I Am Not A Robot
by TwitchGlitch
Summary: Barricade groaned and transformed back into his alternate form. She was no longer his mission. By interfering that night she had become his new compulsion. Starscream would not be happy at all. OC '07 verse
1. Introductions

**Chapter 1: Introductions**

Had anyone been paying attention that dismal night in Mission City, Nevada they would have noticeably seen the cop car seem to sigh and relax on all four of its wheels. Sitting outside the coffee shop where the girl held her regular job he watched her for the third night in a row. This girl, the subject of his mission (and occasional entertainment), was not necessarily a threat for the Decepticons or Autobots, but she did have a rare ability that he had not seen in any other humans. When Barricade told Starscream (the current leader under the rule of the Fallen) of this girl and the potential she possessed Starscream took immediate interest and told Barricade to keep watch of her.

Barricade had spent the last several days doing just that and was quite often annoyed by the human antics. This girl was constantly harassed by customers that found her too friendly. A cook would finally catch on and send the customers out of the store. Barricade did notice a trend with the harassers; they were all human males and in their late teens. On one occasion he had conjured up his holoform and walked into the bar to scare the boys, which the girl accepted gratefully and offered him anything on the menu for free. He refused not needed human food or drinks to sustain his life.

It was near the end of her shift for the night and a group of the regular harassers was just walking into the coffee shop for the night. He generated his holoform to watch them and take action if necessary; however the cook saw them first and removed them from the building. He said something to the girl and she smiled shaking her head. Barricade watched as she looked down at the watch she was wearing and walked in back beginning to take off her pale pink apron. His internal sensor said it was 12:01 am. He searched around the area and didn't see the harassers, but had a feeling they would be waiting for her. Barricade took notice as the bells on the door rang signifying she was walking out the door.

"Really Cook," she said halfway out the door, "I'll be _fine_. Look I'll call you when I get home okay?" With a satisfied smile she walked out the door and began walking her three block journey to her apartment. With her purse on her shoulder she walked quietly as if she had once been trained for reconnaissance. Suddenly before she went past the alleyway she paused. Barricade had heard the clang too. Using his holoform he drove over to where she was paused and rolled down the window. However he had not been quick enough for she had started walking once again and just as soon as she took her first step she was pulled into the alleyway. Turning on his sirens, Barricade whipped around the corner to see one already was holding her with a knife to her throat and the three others in the gang were eyeing her with great interest. Until they realized they were hearing a siren.

As they ran, throwing the girl onto the ground first, Barricade used his holoform to step out of the car. She looked up at the young dark haired officer and recognized him immediately. Although tired from the long night at work and weary from the attack which could have possibly been avoided she smiled as she began to stand up. He grabbed her arm and lifted her with more force than he had meant. Even in his holoform Barricade now knew he had to be careful with the girl. He could easily throw her she weighed so little.

"Are you okay?" he asked using a baritone voice he had found on the internet. Her face momentarily flushed and Barricade didn't understand why, but didn't bother to look into it too far, for as soon as it was there it was gone.

"I am, thanks to you," she said looking down the now empty alleyway. She looked back at him and actually looked his holoform over then turned to look at him. "To punish and enslave…" she commented quietly and he put a smile on his face.

"Have you ever lost a bet," he asked in the most convincing tone he could manage. She looked at his holoform with her eyes seemingly sparkling.

"Yes, on more than one occasion," she said with a laugh.

"I'm Officer Cadence," he said putting his hand out to her once her laughter shad faded, but the smile remained. He had read from several sources that in America it was customary to shake hands when first meeting. "Call me Cade, though."

"Cade, thank you for helping me again; that's the second time you have helped me avoid those goons. Alexandra Raine. My friends and coworkers call me Lexa," she said shaking his hand. The moment their hands touched, Barricade's holoform recoiled and it took a lot of energy to keep it from fading away.

"Lexa," he said smiling although his patience was quickly fading after feeling her touch his holoform. He didn't want to ask her this next question anymore, but under the charade of the cop knew he had to, "Would you like a ride home?"

"You don't have too if it's a burden," she said sheepishly placing a hand on the back of her head and looking away.

"I insist," he said keeping the smile on his face.

"Are you sure?" she asked and he nodded. However if she asked one more time or declined he would accept that and walk back to his car. He was actually slightly hoping that she would refuse once again.

"Okay," she said and he led her back to the car opening his door for her. She slid in and it took everything in his power not to shiver under her slight pressure. Shutting his door he jogged over to the other side and jumped in. Putting the car into reverse he pulled back out onto the street.

"What is your address?" he asked even though he already knew where she lived.

"It the condo up ahead on the right hand side, can't miss it," she said.

Barricade hated humans. That meant all them as a whole; except this one. Under the charade of a police officer he had transported several humans before; none of those experiences had been pleasant. However this girl riding in his passenger seat created heat in his core and felt the cables near his spark pull. It was about that time that Barricade realized that he was driving under the speed limit. He sped up as he ignored his internal conflict.

"Right here," she said and he stopped outside the lobby for the building.

"Thank you again," she said with a smile on her face as she looked over at him, "hope I'll see you again soon." She began to get out of the car but Barricade wasn't ready for her to leave and looked the doors. She turned back to him. He could feel her heart beat rise slowly with fear.

"I was just wondering why you don't make those boys stop harassing you," he said his voice serious and her heartbeat slowing back to its regular pace.

"I don't know how," she said finally, shifting to face him and he couldn't contain the shiver she caused so the whole car shook. She grasped onto the seat and pushed herself against the leather.

"What was that?" she asked nervously.

"A tremor perhaps," he said making his holoform look out the window. This human was destroying his harsh defenses and had no idea. He had known she had abilities that no human had, but this was unexpected. He leaned over to her and rested his hand on her cheek.

"Get some sleep," he whispered and she looked into his eyes, then a quizzical look appeared on her face.

"Cade," she said so silent it was barely audible.

"Hmm?" he said closing his eyes at her voice. They shot open when her hand touched his pseudo face.

"How do I stop them from bothering me?" she asked so innocently he couldn't help but smile at this strange femme. _Human femme_. The doors unlocked and she opened the door. Stepping out the door she turned back to face him. His smile turned to a smirk as he thought of an adequate response. He leaned over and grabbed the door closing it then rolled down the window so she could hear his answer.

"Date a cop," he said and she flushed again.

"Bye Cade. Thanks for the, um, advice," she said with an embarrassed smile and walking into the building. He watched through his scanners as she walked up and into her room, only pausing to open her door. Once safely in her abode he drove off in search of those boys. The space where Lexa had recently occupied now seemed empty and dull. Finding the miscreants, he took to torturing them first; even showing them his true self then quickly eliminated all of the boys that had looked at her like she was only a thing for their pleasure. It was around that moment Barricade groaned and transformed back into his alternate form. She was no longer his mission. By interfering that night she had become his new compulsion. Barricade knew one thing for sure as the rain began to fall and wash the blood from his body. When Starscream found out (it was never a matter of if, for Starscream had optics and audio everywhere) he would not be happy. Barricade shivered at the emptiness he had felt since the girl had left him. Starscream would not be happy at all.

* * *

A/N: so second story. Nervous as heck. Still publishing the other just hit a lull. Hope you enjoyed. Barricade is the object of my torment right now lol.

Disclaimer: I dont own Transformers this is purely fan based.


	2. Meat and Potatoes

**Chapter 2: Meat and Potatoes**

Lexa had slept well that night dreaming of Officer Cade and his warm face and deep, soothing voice. Even in her dreams, though she could not avoid his lingering stare and his muddy reddish brown eyes. When her alarm had gone off the next morning Lexa didn't groan and throw it as she usually did, but walked over to it shutting it off, still wrapped in the towel from the shower she had just unoccupied. After getting dressed in her casual clothes and 'stripper heels' as he friend called them, she set out for breakfast with an old friend. That had been a strange experience when she answered the phone.

Sam Witwiky, her childhood crush turned best friend, had called her a couple days previous asking if they could get together. He told her he missed her and wanted to see how his old friend was doing, however when she asked how he got her number he muttered something about it being classified. She had a strange feeling he had an ulterior motive. As she left her apartment complex she noticed the cop car sitting unoccupied down the street. Unfortunately she wasn't going in that direction so she wouldn't be able to see if it was Cade's car. She turned in the opposite direction and began her walk immediately turning the corner at the end of her block.

The small café wasn't too far away from where she lived and since she didn't own a car she had to just leave early to walk or take a cab. No need to pay money for exercise she could use. As she entered the café she saw that she was about fifteen minutes early and sat a table outside ordering a coffee. Waiting for Sam was proving to be difficult for her especially after she thought she saw Cade's car on more than one occasion. The Officer – and his parting comment – was affecting the way she was seeing things. Sighing at herself for the childish crush she had formed on the kind officer, she thanked the waitress as the younger girl gave her the warm coffee she had ordered. After her third sip, Sam finally showed up. She soon noticed that Sam was not alone and instead being followed by a blonde male who looked like he was straight from the model magazines. Lexa could barely look away after seeing his eyes which were a bright blue; brighter than she could ever remember seeing.

"Alex!" Sam exclaimed upon seeing her. She stood to embrace him but was nearly knocked over by his force. He was taller now, she noticed, standing almost a head taller than her (and she had heels on).

"Hi Sam," she said and pulled up a third chair for the unnamed young adult accompanying her friend. Sam realized he had not introduced the two and beamed with happiness.

"Alex, this is my friend Brandon," he said, "Brandon this is Alexandra. Now shake hands and let's get some food, I'm starving!" Lexa laughed at her friend and stuck her hand out to shake Brandon's.

"You don't have to call me Alexandra, by the way," she said as he looked at her hand, "You can call me Alex if you want, or Lexa, or Ali, or… Whatever else you can think of that involves my name. Relax I don't bite, I _promise_." She felt as though she was rambling, but she was nervous. Finally he put out his hand offering a small smile. When their hands touched she noticed he jumped slightly like he had been shocked and dropped his hand away from hers. That was the second man in two days that had reacted like that from her touch.

"Sorry," said Brandon finally speaking and Lexa realized that if he sang he would probably have been a tenor. His soft voice was soothing as he spoke again, "I didn't expect your hands to be so… uh… soft."

"It's okay," she said adding a smile to her features. Brandon blushed and she giggled sitting back into her seat once again. Listening only partially to Sam's order Lexa looked around the area, no longer seeing cop cars anywhere.

"Are you okay?" Brandon asked and Lexa jumped slightly.

"What's got you so jumpy Lex?" asked Sam as soon as the waitress walked away. Lexa could have sworn she heard the waitress muttering about how they might have to shut the store down to restock after Sam left.

"I feel like I'm being watched," she said quietly not realizing that she had spoken out loud. Brandon immediately scooted closer to her and began looking around the area.

"Sam as soon as she gets back with the food we need to leave," Brandon said as Lexa spotted the familiar cop car.

"No we should be safe," Lexa said positive in her trust from the friendly police officer, "Cade's cruiser is right over there, he wouldn't let anything happen to us."

"You know him?" said Brandon looking back at the cruiser recognizing it immediately.

"Yeah, he's helped me out a couple of times," she said, "I had some boys bothering me and he saved me last night when they attacked." Sam and Brandon looked at each other then back at Lexa. She had no idea the danger she was in.

"Here's your food," said the waitress just setting the tray on the table.

"Thanks can we get the check for that? As soon as you can," Sam said and Brandon noticed the cop car was gone.

"He's gone. Leave her some money and let's get out of here," he said and stood up.

"Are you going to be back in town soon so we can hang out again," she asked remaining seated. Sam offered her a hand.

"Alex, you're in a lot of danger. Cade isn't a cop. Trust me please," said Sam as she stood.

"I don't understand. If he isn't a cop then why does he have a cruiser and wear the uniform?" she said not believing Sam.

"Please Alex; I need you to trust me. I'll explain everything to you when we're away from here," he said as he began pulling on her arm nervously. She looked around no longer seeing Cade's car and looked back at Sam nodding. They ran over to a yellow Camaro and Brandon hopped into the driver's seat.

"Get in back, and stay down," said Sam and she slid into the back seat. Brandon groaned and both Sam and Lexa looked at him.

"Bee?" Sam asked without thinking then turned red hoping Lexa wouldn't notice. He sat in the front seat and looked at his suddenly distracted friend.

"Brandon, are you okay?" she asked sitting forward.

"Just lay down back there and try not to move," he said through gritted teeth. She did as she was told and gasped as a seatbelt snaked around her waist.

"Sam why did the seatbelt just go on its own?" she asked in a panic.

"Bee, you're going to scare her if you do that again!" she heard him barely whisper.

"I'm sorry!" Brandon hissed.

"What going on?" Sam asked low enough that Lexa couldn't hear. Bee ignored Sam concentrating on the 'cop' that had pulled up behind them.

"Sam!" Lexa said on the verge of screaming.

"Alex it's okay; just relax!" he said reaching back and grabbing her hand to calm her nerves. Suddenly the police sirens went off and Bee sped up trying to outrun the Decepticon. Not able to reach full speed and maintain his holoform, Bee let it fade away and accelerated hoping Lexa wouldn't notice. Too preoccupied with her immediate surroundings Lexa never noticed. Soon the sirens faded away and eventually after several hours of driving they arrived at their destination.

Had Lexa remained awake the entire time she would have noticed the peculiarity that they never once stopped for gas. She would have also noticed that half of the time there was no one in the driver's seat and she would have even noticed on a rare occasion there was a blonde male sitting on the floor right next to her staring at her with intense blue eyes; but she was not awake the entire time and for that matter was not even awake half of the time.

Lexa woke up as Brandon pulled her from the seat and carried her into a smaller room. She paid no attention to the surroundings as she stared up at the blonde. He looked relatively young, she decided; maybe in his early twenties (if she had to guess a year she would have said no more than 25, probably along the lines of twenty-three). His blonde hair was not long with only about an inch of growth and the top was slightly spiked. His eyes were an odd color blue that she had never seen on eyes before. Aqua... No, maybe turquoise. Yeah, that was it; they were definitely turquoise. They stared straight ahead to where he was walking except for a brief moment when he glanced down to check on her to find she was awake and staring at him. He blushed and looked away.

Brandon lay her down on a sofa in the smaller room. Lexa looked around, finally taking in her surroundings. It was a rec room she decided. There were books littered on multiple tables, a ping pong table in the corner. There was a large flat screen LCD TV in the center of the far wall which the sofa she was seated on faced and in the entertainment center beneath it she could see a blu-ray player, a PS3, an Xbox 360 and a Wii along with numerous games for each system. On the table between her and the TV sat (as well as the multitude of books and magazines) a couple decks of cards which she quickly took interest in. Her attention was soon diverted from the cards to Sam as he began speaking.

"So, time to explain some things," Sam said not looking like he was too sure of what to say.

"We are not from your world, Alexandra Raine," said a new male voice and Lexa turned to face the door as an older looking male walked in. He was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt; a cowboy hat adorning his head. He had nearly the same blue eyes that Brandon had and when she looked between the two she realized that Brandon's were definitely turquoise and this new comer's eyes were definitely aqua.

"Wait," Lexa said finally catching what the man said, "what?"

"Alex, don't freak out, K?" said Sam sitting next to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her an arm's length away. "They're transforming robots from outer space." She was silent for a few minutes as she stared at Sam's face trying to read if he was serious or not. Deciding that he was, she finally responded.

"Sam, are you…inebriated?" she asked quietly and she heard a slight laugh from Brandon.

"Alexandra," said the newcomer but she interrupted him.

"Who are you and how do you know my name? Did Sam tell you?"

"No although he has spoken of you many times, my name is Optimus Prime; Leader of the Autobots," he said standing suddenly taller. Lexa looked from Optimus to Sam then back to Optimus, over to Brandon then finally on Sam.

"You're all high aren't you?" she said with a shake of her head and standing up. Brandon was the one to walk up to her and take her hand. There was a slight twitch of his muscles as they're hands met and he looked down into her green eyes. Had she always been more than a head shorter than him? She didn't remember him being that tall.

"Lexa, let me show you okay?" he said and she stared at him then nodded. Why was there a sudden uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach?

He walked her to the first large room they had entered and she realized it was not a room at all but a large hangar full of vehicles. He led her over to the yellow Camaro and told her to stay put and watch him. She nodded and he backed up slowly, holding onto her hand until their fingertips could no longer touch. Then he slowly began disappearing. There was a screeching of metal and gears as the Camaro transformed and stood up.

Lexa wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to do anything but stand there and stare up and the massive metal being. It knelt down to be less intimidating, but it failed. Why couldn't she just run away? Why were they showing her this? Lexa jumped as she saw yellow digits in front of her.

"Lexa," Brandon's voice said except it was different. It was metallic. She looked up at the robot's face.

"Brandon?" she asked her voice meek. He chuckled and nodded.

"Would you like to come up here with me?" he asked and she looked around at all the people who had suddenly appeared. Nervous she rubbed her hands against opposite arms and looked away.

"Lexa?" the robot questioned and she stared up into his large optics.

Why did he get that feeling from her? Why was it that this human with a scared look in her eyes, could tear at his spark. Why was Bee so convinced that he needed her to accept him? He was a young bot and he wondered if that was the reason he was so attracted to the human femme. He was shaken from his thoughts as she climbed into his palm sitting cross-legged and staring at him with trust. He slowly lifted her up to the height of his chest and walked out of the hangar and onto the abandoned airfield.

"What are you?" he heard her ask as he walked. His optics moved down to her form which was now sitting so she could watch where he was walking.

"We are autonomous beings from another planet in a distant galaxy," he said slowly not wanting to tell her more than she could handle. He could feel her heart beat and knew that it was beating at an accelerated pace.

"Relax," he said as gentle as he could muster, "being nervous isn't good for you."

"Where are we going?" she asked after a while of silence.

"There is a place that I know of… Sam once took Mikaela there," he said, "we'll watch the sunset and talk of things."

"Bee?" she said after a while of the two sitting there. The first thing they had discussed was his name and that it was not Brandon, that was only to fit in with the humans; but rather his name was Bumble Bee. She had smiled saying she liked that better.

"Yes?" he asked watching her as she sat on his robotic knee cap.

"Is Cade like you?" she asked turning around to look at him. Bee growled not liking the topic, but knew it would come up eventually.

"More or less," Bee grumbled. He lifted her up and set her on the ground. As soon as she was safely on her two feet he transformed back into his Camaro form and used his holoform to sit on the hood. He patted the spot next to him and she carefully got up next to him. Bee put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. They watched the sun set for a few more minutes before he continued on. "Barricade, or Cade as you know him, is a Decepticon. On our planet – do you remember what it's called?"

"Cybertron?" she said not entirely sure.

"Right," Bee said with a smile, "on Cybertron there is a war that has been going for eons. It's between two factions; the Autobots, that's what we are, and the Decepticons. It carried onto this planet unfortunately and the Decepticons don't care about what happens to all of the humans. Due to their disregard of your species' safety, we have taken an oath to protect humans to the greatest extent."

"Why was Barricade so nice to me if he's a Decepticon and Decepticons hate humans so much?" she asked. Bee watched as the last rays of sun slid past the horizon line.

"We still aren't exactly sure," he said and shuddered as she moved in closer for heat. He wondered, if any other bots touched her, would they notice the pull too? Maybe that was a reason Barricade was so attracted to her as well.

"Ready to head back?" he asked her. She moved her head so it was no longer leaning gently on his chest and sat up, her back popping slightly.

"I guess if you are," she said sliding carefully off the hood. As she moved to open the door it opened automatically. She jumped and smiled slightly embarrassed as Bee laughed at her.

"Sorry," he said a smile still visible on his face.

"I can tell," she said a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The ride back to the hangar was mostly quiet. Bee had turned on some music and Lexa was humming along quietly looking out the window at the lack of scenery. Bee kept his holoform up, though not even bothering pretending to drive, but instead watch Lexa contently. He sighed looking over at her knowing that there was at least one last thing he needed to ask for the night. He was sure when he'd talk to Optimus later he'd discover he had forgotten multiple things but he didn't care. She had opened up and accepted them; _that_ was all he cared about.

"Lexa," he said and she looked over at him.

"Yes, Bee?" she asked and moved in her seat to face him. He closed his pseudo eyes trying not to show her or let her hear how pleasurable her moving about was. When he opened them again she was staring at him intently waiting for him to continue on.

"It is no longer safe for you to go home;" he said slowly, "for now you need to stay here. If you wish to move away we will make arrangements, get you a job to sustain your means to live; but for safety's sake the safest place is here." She stared at his holoform for a few minutes then looked out the window.

"Okay," she said quietly and he could tell there was still something on her mind.

"What is it Lexa?" he asked when she didn't say anything. She turned her head to face him then looked him over. Once again she looked out the window, but watched him in the reflection.

"Barricade wasn't as bad as you made him out to be," she said finally. Bee winced, but didn't respond. Unfortunately she would find out the true Barricade all too soon.

A/N: So there was chappie two my lovilies. Thanks to **franks-not-dead**, **xRatchetXNightSaberx**, and **Midnight Eternial**. I'm so glad you guys liked the first one and I hope you enjoyed this installment as well :) I know I certainly enjoyed writing it. Now off to bed for me so I can go to class in the morning (yes i have a Saturday class). Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Also while reading I saw quite a few errors so I just fixed them... well most of them.

**Disclaimer: (although unnecessary) I do not, nor will I ever, own Transformers. This is purely fan based.**


	3. When ScienceFiction Becomes Science Fact

**Chapter 3: Science Fiction becomes Science Fact**

Barricade was mad at himself. He lost her, only now she was like his drug and he was beside himself on what to do. He couldn't believe the pesky Autobot had escaped with her. He had taken his optics off of her for only a few seconds and when Barricade looked back she was in him. It angered him thinking back on it. He knew how the girl felt inside him and didn't want anyone else to feel that. She was his and he was hers. With that last thought passing non-chalant through his processors he began to drive in the direction he lost them. He would find her and get her back. He needed her. A shiver went through his body as he thought of his need for the girl. Good thing Starscream had not checked in with him recently. Starscream would defiantly notice a difference in his loyal seeker. With all night ahead of him Barricade revved his engine and began scanning the area for the unique code that was almost invisible. It was her code and due to her small size it was barely detectible, however Barricade wasn't just any seeker. He was the prized seeker of the Decepticons. As he drove down the highway and traces became fewer, her soon found that her code, although small and almost covered by all the others was there and he began to track her down. The more he focused on the code the denser it seemed. Surpassing the speed limit Barricade barreled towards his mission. She was his.

* * *

Lexa woke up the next morning feeling strange. In 48 short hours her life had turned upside down, but things suddenly seemed clearer. As she sat up and looked around the room she was sleeping in she saw Bee resting outside her window. With a smile she stood and walked over to her window opening it quietly. She took in a breath and looked as the sun began to rise over the horizon. It had been a long time since she had seen the sun rising. She tended to work late shifts so early mornings were not something that she was used to. She thought about waking up Bumblebee before she just began walking around, but decided against it, leaving a note on her window instead. She slipped on her shoes quietly and slid through her window making as little noise as possible. She hated to wake anyone up when they could be resting instead.

She walked aimlessly for a while then noticing the familiar road she made up her mind. She was walking to the tree she had been near when watching the sunset the night before with Bee. By the time she arrived the sun was well into the sky but she didn't mind. She sat near its roots and stared out at the open space. It was quiet except for the sawing of the crickets and the whistles of the early morning birds, but it was relaxing. Realization dawned upon the fact that she had not been this relaxed in a long time. She wasn't quite sure why, but she was really happy. She felt things were suddenly looking up and although her life had been far from horrible, she was now truly happy.

"They allow you to roam around unsupervised?" a familiar male voice spoke next to Lexa and she jumped looking up at him.

"I thought you weren't allowed around here," she said patting the ground next to her. His human form sat down next to her and looked out over the base.

"I'm not," he said and she looked over at him as he looked at her, "but they had something I wanted." His hand trailed up to her cheek and she rolled her head into it unconsciously.

"Barricade?" she began looking up at him with large trusting greenish-brown eyes.

"Hmm?" he hummed his attention solely on her.

"Are you as dangerous as they said?" she asked. He didn't notice until he sighed how easy it was for him to be in his human form. Maybe this girl was making everything easier for him.

"I can be," he said deciding to be honest with her.

"Can be…?" she said quietly looking away thinking.

"I fight for what I believe is mine. My rights, my belief, my property," he said. _You…_ The thought invaded his processor and he growled. She looked over at him and cocked her head to the side backing away slightly.

'_Barricade this is Starscream report,'_ the vile voice of the Decepticon came over Barricade's comm link.

"Barricade why…" she paused as he held up a finger to her looking off in a distant manner. He slowly dematerialized and she saw his true form not too far behind the tree. He suddenly appeared in front of her and pulled her up to stand in front of him. Barely standing Barricade started pulling her towards his car and he threw her into the passenger's seat.

"Ouch," she said the gasped as the seat belt snaked around her and held her in too tightly.

"Barricade, you're hurting me!" she gasped having a hard time breathing from the constricting chest belt. His grip on her loosened as he sped off.

"Cade, stop," she said holding onto the seat below her tightly. His holoform appeared in the driver's seat and looked at her.

"You can't stay here," he said watching her with great interest.

"Why," she asked looking out the window as the scenery passed by at an alarming rate.

"They cannot protect you," he said leaning over to her, "And you are far too important to be left in such lacking hands. I won't lose you, they already have." He was almost whispering to her like he was trying to woo her, and he continued, "They won't be able to find you once you're lost. I know your signature unlike any of them. No matter where you go, not matter how far I will be able to find you… Don't you see you'll be so much safer with me."

"Cade," she said fear in her eyes, "You're scaring me…" He growled at that, his holoform disappeared and his speed increased. Suddenly a large robot appeared in front of them and Barricade hit the brakes.

"Barricade, let the girl go!" the robot spoke and Lexa knew immediately it was Bee.

"She's mine!" he yelled back staying in his car form.

"Barricade, stop," she whispered gently touching the dashboard in front of her. He growled, but it wasn't menacing… It was more like a moan. His holoform appeared next to her and he touched her wrist. She looked over at him and let him hold her wrist. Suddenly his hand felt like fire on her skin and she screamed trying to pull away from him. He leaned over her and kissed her neck before moving up to her ear to speak.

"Proof," he said in such a tone that gave her shivers, "that no matter where you are or who you are with… You are mine…" He left go of her wrist and opened the door allowing her to leave. She felt herself pulled from the car and into comfortable arms and watched as Barricade drove off. Slowly the pain returned to her wrist and she looked down at it. With a hiss of pain she saw a mark small but there none the less. It was the Decepticon symbol (that was what she assumed at least, it was much like the Autobots, but pointier) and under it read in two lines:

"…To punish,

And enslave…"

"Bee," she whispered scared.

"What is it Lexa?" he asked turning her to face him. She was still looking down at her wrist but her head was blocking his view of it.

"Is this what I think it is?" she asked looking up to his face and showing him her wrist. His spark felt like it was on fire. It was different than when she touched him. It was a fire that was kindled by hatred and jealousy.

"That's the mark of a Decepticon," he growled touching her wrist gingerly.

"I was afraid of that," she said looking down at it sadly.

"Does it hurt?" he asked watching her happiness fade.

"Only a little," she said still looking down. He lifted his hand to her chin and lifted her face up to look at his.

"It wasn't your fault," he said calmly although he felt like chasing down the Decepticon and mutilating him.

"But if I hadn't gone out for a walk on my own…" she said her voice wavering.

"Don't," he said pulling her into a hug, "Mistakes are necessary to learn. We'll take you to Ratchet and see what he can do to fix it. Just because you have the mark of the Decepticons doesn't mean we'll hate you. I know you don't want it."

"Bee?" she said and he backed up slightly to look at her.

"Yeah?" he asked and she smiled a sad smile.

"Thank you," she said and rested her head on his chest. He backed away slightly and she looked up at him quizzically. He touched her cheek gently looking over her face. He leaned down and kissed her forehead the moved down slightly to kiss her nose. He moved down once again hovering over her lips and paused. _What if she doesn't want me to be kissing her… Human's only do this if they care for one another… She can't possibly care for a robot like that…_ His internal processor whizzed away wondering if she would want to be kissed, but stopped as she leaned up to meet his lips. He knew it was possible for his spark to explode, but wondered if it would do it for a human femme. Not that it was ever a good thing for a spark to explode, but he'd rather it did it for something pleasurable than something miserable like a virus. She pulled away from the kiss her cheeks scarlet and a smile on her face.

"C'mon," he said his holoform smiling while leading her to the car, "Let's see if Ratchet can get rid of that thing!" She noticed he was a lot happier from even seconds earlier and wondered why she had such an effect on the Bot. She would ask him later though, she was just happy that the scowl was no longer on his face.

* * *

Barricade watched from afar; his hatred for the Autobots growing as she kissed their less mature seeker. He was immature and had probably never pleased a femme in his life. He would get her back, not immediately, because the plan had changed, but she would be his and his alone. He would kill all the Autobots to get to her if necessary. However, Barricade knew there was one Autobot that he would kill regardless; the yellow Camaro that apparently had taken a great interest in the girl too, Bumblebee.

Alexandra Raine was _his_, whether anyone else liked it or not and she would see that he was the only one that would be hers and deserve that role…

* * *

A/N: Thank you for waiting, I'm sorry it took so long to get to you. I greatly appreciate you guys and your comments. I hope you enjoyed this one and if you see problems or flaws in my story, _Please let me know. _I write quickly and go over these several times, but I tend to miss things as I read. Also I know this is looking like its more of a Bee/OC story, it's because I like to keep you guessing. Honestly though, Barricade needs a girl who can be a total BA when she needs to be and Lexa isn't there at this point.

**Super thanks** to **xRatchetXNightsaberx, ultimateanime12, franks-not-dead, Midnight Eternial, CharlotteAnnRae and NeonGhost8** for reviewing!

Comp 1 is gearing up and we're starting to get into the three-four page papers with soon to be longer ones... Work is getting busier with the holidays right around the corner, apparently I'm coaching a high school bowling team again and my design 2 class is taking up a lot of time, so if I see that its gonna be a bit before the next chapter I will let everyone know.

Constructive critism is **always** welcomed.

Again, I hope you enjoyed and until next I see you again, have happy days. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or the Bayverse in which I write this fanfiction. It is a _fanfiction_ meaning I am a fan who is writing this. Only Lexa is mine. **

**Now to bed so I can wake up early in the morning for work... yeah, sure. .;;;**


	4. Teddy Bears

**Chapter 4: Teddy Bears**

It was a cool autumn day and the trees in the region were starting to turn their natural reds, yellows, and oranges, just as they did every year at this time. The air was crisp and cool, making it a bit chilly when the wind would blow. Lexa had her brown hair in a long braid cascading down her back with a beanie on top of her head. She had on a bright blue windbreaker and dark jeans. Lexa and Bumble Bee were sitting at their now normal spot that over looked the base. Bee's holoform was dressed similarly in blue jeans and a yellow and black jacket with a black beanie covering his hair.

"Being human comes fairly natural to you doesn't it?" she asked. He looked over at her and smiled.

"It has become easier in the past few months, at first I didn't think this was going to work," he admitted.

"Why?"

"Well," he began slowly, "Humans have so many ways of showing emotions and affection. At first girls would start flirting with me and I didn't know what to do. Soon they started saying I was a heartless jerk and what not – not that it mattered either way – but I asked Sam why. He told me it was because I didn't react or anything. So I learned to blush. It took a while but now blushing is like second nature to me."

"Wow," she said, "so it does come fairly easy once you know what to do."

"Mhm," said Bee nodding slightly, "The thing the Decepticon's don't understand about your race is how similar you are to us."

"So this hate for the Decepticon's," Lexa began, another thought in her mind, "is it so inbred that you can't change sides either way? Like a Decepticon can't become an Autobot or vice versa?"

"Well you can, I guess," Bee said leaning back on the glass of his car form and Lexa leaned back with him, "but really who would want to? Our sides have been warring for eons. Even if a Decepticon would want to switch sides he would join us and not be trusted for a long time. And if he were caught during a battle they would torture him to the brink of death, but never really kill him."

"Oh," Lexa said looking out over the base.

"Would you ever do it?" Bee asked so suddenly that Lexa was lost for a moment.

"What?"

"Would you switch sides even if you knew how you would be treated and what would happen if you were caught?"

"Well," Lexa thought out loud, "it would depend on my reasoning behind it. If I felt the side I was fighting for was in the wrong…" she paused as she thought back on things, "then yeah, I would." Bee stared over at her for a few minutes then nodded.

"I could see that, I guess," he said and watched her. He noticed she was rubbing her wrist where the marking had been until recently.

"Is your wrist okay?" Bee asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, Ratchet said that it would probably bug me and parts of it might reappear off and on for some time, but to let him know if there was any serious pain."

"Pain?"

"I didn't really understand it, but Ratchet said Barricade used nanites that continually rebuilt themselves to cover or char my skin. Apparently the only way to stop them is by sending small EMP bursts through my wrist, but we have to be careful on how much we use because there may be side effects. The cells and I guess nanites have been rubbing off, but I still feel like it's there…" Bee gingerly touched her hand moving it so he could see where the marks on her wrist had been. Sure enough it was mostly gone, but as he looked at her wristed he noticed the enslaved part look like it was fading in and out.

"I'll talk to Ratchet and see what else he can do," Bee mumbled suddenly grumpy.

Lexa lay back sinking into the comfort of Bee's Camaro body and sighed. They spent most days like this just enjoying each other's company until it was time to go in and sleep. The only thing that messed with their seemingly perfect schedule was the random Decepticon attack. One had happened just the day before and Lexa realized Bee hadn't filled her in. That meant Barricade had been involved.

"What happened yesterday in Salt Lake?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Fought some Decepticon's," then Bee mumbled, "Barricade was there."

"What happened?" she asked repeating her question.

"I chased him down and I almost had him cornered," he said pouting, "When he turned the wrong way and I lost him. When I regrouped with the Autobot's all the fighting was done so we came back."

"Why are you so obsessed with finding him?" Lexa asked turning to face Bee. His holoform turned to face her and pulled her close to him. Nuzzling into her neck he sighed taking in her scent.

"He needs to pay for hurting you," he said, "but I'm not obsessed I just want him to regret it."

"Such a bear," she said playfully a smile over her features. It took him a few nano-seconds but he understood what she meant and smiled. A bear while large is generally gentle unless angered or hungry, and Bee was large, gentle (as much as he could be) and didn't stray from his gentleness unless he was angry (although Barricade had always brought out the worst in Bee). So Bee decided with a smile, he would be her bear then; after all human femme's loved 'teddy bears' didn't they?

After discovering how easy it was to silently hack into the Earth's satellites Barricade had discovered watching Alexandra from afar was slightly comforting in most cases. However, he was disturbed at how much time she was spending with the yellow Autobot. He knew the Autobot was trying to lay claim on her and he didn't know what to do about it. He could not just snatch her away from Bumble Bee, and she was not against any of the Autobot's yet.

Barricade listened as Lexa and Sam planned a trip to the mall the next day and a smile crossed his features. It wasn't a dark smile, but a genuine one as he looked forward to being able to see her again. He wondered though how far he would be able to project his hologram. With a quick test he found it could only be projected for about a mile. _'It will have to do,' _he thought and tapped into the Satellite system for one more glance at her before putting himself into a sleep mode. _'I will see her tomorrow…'_

"Sam," Lexa asked the next day as they walked the mall, "Bee said something about a girl Mikaela. Is she your girlfriend?" Sam looked over at his long time friend and sighed.

"Not anymore," he said sadly, "She was amazing. You might have known her… Mikaela Banes?" Lexa shook her head.

"It's not familiar," she said then she stopped and hugged Sam, "Sorry to hear things didn't work out." He hugged her back and smiled.

"Eh, it's okay," he said and they began walking again. Suddenly Sam snaked his arm around her waist and he leaned over and kissed her temple, but paused to speak.

"We're being followed," he whispered to Lexa.

"Where?" she muttered, nuzzling into his neck to look around.

"My left," he said and her eyes scanned the area, "by the pillar."

"I know him," she said spotting the man with black hair and reddish brown eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans. She backed away from Sam and started walking towards him, then turned back to Sam, "I will meet up with you in about forty-five minutes, okay?" Sam nodded unsure.

"Call me if you need me," he whispered to her and she nodded.

"I don't like him touching you like he was," Barricade said as she walked up with a bag in her hand. She smiled sweetly and hugged him.

"Hi Cade," she said his name quietly in case Sam was still near. He hugged her back and soon they began walking with his arm around her.

"You are taller today," she said looking up at him. He nodded and smirked as he began leading her towards a Victoria's Secret.

"I'm not going in there," she said as he began to lead her into the store.

"I thought that was where you human femme's loved to shop," he said a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Most do, I don't," she said walking away with burning cheeks and he followed after her, his hands in his pockets.

"Are you pouting at me?" she asked after she turned back to him and he looked away. He smirked again and she rolled her eyes. "You know for a robot you sure act human enough." Anger flashed across his features and he grabbed her arm.

"Take it back," he said threateningly.

"No, not when it's the truth," she said quietly not showing him he was hurting her, "Barricade let go please. It hurts…" He let go immediately and sighed.

"We are not like humans," he said grumbling. They walked into a department store so she could shop while they talked. Soon she was looking at new shoes.

"Why do you have a problem with humans?" she asked trying on her third pair of shoes.

"They are vile creatures that are ruled by emotions and hormones," he said looking at a couple kissing nearby with disgust, "Humans have no control over what they do. They are weak."

"I'm a human," she said looking straight at him with conflicted eyes. He looked at her and sighed once again. This girl had him wrapped around her finger and he hoped she didn't know. Here he was criticizing humans for something similar to what he had done with her. He looked over at a pair of heels and handed her one.

"Try these," he grumbled. The lady that was there to assist any customers walked over to them and asked if they needed help. Lexa asked her for a certain size in multiple shoes and the lady left.

"You are the exception," he whispered in her ear and she jumped.

"Barricade," she said holding a box of shoes in her lap, "join the Autobot's or maybe just stop fighting them. Please?"

"I can't do that Lexa," he said her name rolling off his tongue.

"Why not?" she asked quickly and he looked down at her hands. She was tense and her knuckles white from holding on to the box too hard. His holoform hand brushed against hers and she relaxed, looking down at their hands. His larger hand was on top of hers and she looked up to his face. He was watching her with curiosity.

"I just can't Lexa," he said and his other hand rose to her face to lie on her cheek, "If I left the Decepticon's… Starscream knows about you…"

"Starscream?" she asked, "Who is that?"

"He is my commander," Barricade said, "He is the second in command of the Decepticon's. Megatron – the leader – hates humans even more, but Starscream runs a closed second."

"So what does that have to do with you leaving the Decepticon's?"

"They will use you against me," he said.

"Here are your shoes Miss," said the worker and Lexa smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for your help."

"No problem," she said and walked away.

"How will they use me?" she asked not understanding.

"No more question's today, Lexa."

"Bee answers all my questions," she mumbled taking three pairs of shoes and standing to go shop for clothes. Barricade stood with her and grabbed her wrist as she began to walk away from him.

"The Autobot has nothing to hide."

"How is answering my question about how I might be in danger or how I might be used against you something you need to hide," she asked with her temper flaring for the first time he had ever seen. It wasn't much of a flare, but Barricade knew that all wildfires started as a small ember. He wished he could see the fire behind her really; the girl who would fight for herself no matter what and the femme that would fight for him as well. He felt the cables pull at his spark and he groaned.

"You're not a normal human," he said finally and let go of her arm. It was about then he realized his mark was gone. "What happened to it?" he asked angered.

"Oh," she said looking at her wrist, "Ratchet sent an E.M. pulse through it to get rid of the Decepticon symbol."

"Why did you let them?" he whispered harshly as he hovered over her. He had hoped by cornering her she would be angered again, but instead she fell back into her shell.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't want to be branded by a side I knew nothing of." He watched her as she cowered into herself and he sighed.

"C'mon," he said gently after not achieving what he had aimed for.

"You're mad at me," she stated as they walked to the junior's clothing area.

"No, I'm not," he said looking at a pair of jeans for her. She put herself between him and the rack of clothes. He looked down at her to see the worry on her face.

"You should not be so concerned of what others think of you," he said placing his hand gently against her face, "Now let's get your shopping done and get you back to that annoying human. He has contacted the Autobot and they are both waiting for you in the food court." As they finished shopping he led her back to the food court, but stopped just out of sight. He handed her the couple of bags he had been carrying and leaned down to her level. He wrapped his pseudo arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"The Autobot will tell you gruesome things about my past," Barricade said as he held her close to him, "They are all true. I don't regret them though. Everything that I have done… Every 'Bot that I have… It's all led me to where I am today."

"Barricade; its okay," she said with a small smile. He looked over her face – his stoic – as he decided what to say.

"We shall see when you learn of the things I have done. Just remember; I never denied you the truth," he said then his head whipped up, "they are coming. Stay safe." He turned to walk away then paused looking back at her.

"Alexandra," he began as he searched for the right words, "Don't allow that boy or that Autobot near you like the boy was earlier. I don't like it."

"You know jealousy is a human trait too," she said with a mischievous smile. He looked at her unhappy then smirked.

"I guess it is," he said and walked away putting his sunglasses on.

"Lexa," Bee said running up behind her, "Are you okay? Sam called and said there was some guy here that you knew…"

"I'm fine, Bee," she said with a smile on her face, "I was just coming to meet up with Sam again."

"You were late," Bee said holding her close as they walked back to Sam.

"I was shopping and talking with an old friend," she lied easily, "it happens. However, I didn't know I was that late or I would have let Sam know."

"An old friend," Bee murmured, "Sam said it was a man."

"I guess you could call him a man," she said with a coy smile. She felt like she was high off the satisfaction that Barricade had admitted one trait he had was very human.

"Who was it?" Bee asked her but she didn't answer him off in her world of thoughts. He stopped. "Lexa?" No answer. "Alexandra?" Her head swiveled towards him. Her name sounded so strange coming from his vocal cords. It didn't sound as smooth as when Barricade said it.

"Yes?" she asked confused.

"Who was it?" Bee asked.

"Who was who?" Lexa asked still confused in the conversation.

"The man," Bee said, "Your 'old friend.'" _You should not be so concerned of what others think of you._

"It was Barricade," Lexa said finally.

"Lexa you shouldn't be with him!" Bee growled, "He will kill you. He's trying to lure you in and when you have been convinced by him he will destroy you."

"I asked him to stop fighting against you," she said abruptly and Bee paused suddenly curious.

"What did he say?" he said predicting the answer.

"He said he couldn't."

"Figures," scoffed Bee, "Probably didn't even give you a reason!"

"He said Starscream knew of me," she said and Bee paused. She couldn't be making this up the Autobot's had tried hard to keep her ignorant of all the Decepticon's. She continued, "He said they would use me against him. He wouldn't tell me what he meant by that though."

"Let's get Sam and go. I need to talk with Optimus about all of this," he said and they continued walking to the food court. Soon they were sitting inside Bee on the way back to the Base. Bee had his holoform up although he was sitting in the Passenger's seat and looking back at Lexa who was laying in the backseat resting.

"Bee, she'll be okay," Sam said driving his friend.

"I don't like how much he is contacting her," Bee said finally, "He's up to something."

"Maybe he likes her like you do," Sam suggested, "Does he have to be 'up to something?'"

"It's Barricade. He's always up to something Sam."

"Okay," Sam said looking into the rear view mirror. He swore he saw the cop car riding behind them, but just as he began to say something it peeled off onto a side street. Sam planed to wait until he saw the cop car again, but he never did so he just remained silent. He hoped Barricade wasn't just up to something and that maybe he had some feelings for Lexa. Sam hoped with all of his heart. If there had been a star in the sky to wish on, he would have done that too.

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, I know a ton of fluff. I blame Andrew Llyodd Webber. :) I really hope this one doesn't disappoint!_

_Special Thanks to my reviewers!:_

_**Midnight Eternial:** Really glad you are enjoying my story! I'm trying to update when I can, but I've been busy lately. This week is less busy with school so we'll see how much they schedule me at work. :) I will update ASAP!_

**_Ember Lotus: _**_Thank you so much! Its one of those "I knew that but spaced" things so I really appreciate your help!_

_**CharlotteAnnRae: **I love that kind of sense of humor, I'm very much the same. :) Thanks so much for the confidence boost! _

_**AutobotJena:** Hey! :) Oh you totally Barricade always gets what he wants one way or another ;D Thanks hope you enjoyed!_

_**franks-not-dead: **I've always found that people as a whole learn best through love so I was definately trying to portray that in this chappie._

_**ultimateanime12: **Glad you like it!_

_One last thing... I'm writing the story line for a video game now too! Its in the raw beginning stages and I told my co-creator that you guys are gonna come first, but I'm trying to give TLC to both of my creations._

_Your continued support helps me write! It makes me fell good and helps me want to continue this story!_

_As always **disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Transformers and this is purely fanbased._

_Good night, I have a charity ride for March of Dimes tomorrow. Have a great day all!_


	5. It's the Truth, Trust Me

**Chapter 5: It's the Truth, Trust Me**

After her time at the mall with Barricade Lexa felt even more drawn to him. He constantly plagued her thoughts and even while she was with Bumble Bee, she couldn't help but wonder where Barricade was or what he was doing.

Bee had been teaching Lexa to fight upon her request and when he was not teaching her how to fight she was devoting her time to learning as much as she could about the Autobot's and Decepticon's. At first Optimus had refused for her to learn about the Decepticon's however after Bee talked with Optimus he was weary, but open to the idea.

It was a Friday and Lexa was bored. She and Sam were the only two left on base (aside from the twins) and even though it was 6 in the afternoon Sam was sleeping on the couch leaning on Lexa. It was hard for her to sit still and under his weight she felt even more restless. Sam sighed in his sleep as she moved again.

"Sam," she whispered hoping he would wake up, "I wish there were something to do."

"I suppose this is better than how I saw the two of you last," said a voice from behind her. She turned to him with a smile.

"Barricade!" she whispered not to wake Sam. Slowly she tried to move him so he was lying on a pillow instead of her. Turning to him she extended her arms for a hug and he granted her that, pulling her in and hugging her tightly.

"What has he told you?" Barricade asked holding her close. Slowly he began petting her hair as she just leaned against him.

"Not much," she said with a sigh and backing away from him, "they've been telling me about Decepticon's as a whole mostly."He looked down at the girl and smirked.

"Meet me at the edge of the Base, near the tree you spend so much time at with the Autobot," he said and disappeared. She ran to her room and gathered a few belongings throwing all of them in her purse. Then slipping her tennis shoes on, she ran out the front of the base. She ran as fast as she could not sure how much time she would have with her Decepticon friend. She reached the tree a few minutes later out of breath and using it to lean on. She heard a deep chuckle behind her and turned towards it.

"You're out of breath," said Barricade standing tall in his robot form. She looked up at him with her hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

"I ran as fast as I could," she said finally catching her breath.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to see you Barricade," she said with an earnest smile. He transformed into his car form then summoned his holoform to stand by her. He leaned one hand on the tree and stood over her.

"I always thought this was an inconvenience," he said smiling down at her, "Until I met you." She jumped up and hugged him. He pulled away from her hug as he looked at her face.

"Alexandra," he said watching her, "What did you mean when you said I act human enough?"

"Well," she said putting a finger on her face, "I know you don't want to hear it, but you are very much like us. You have the same feelings. You get jealous, you're happy, angry. Bumble Bee gets sad, so I assume you do as well. You fight in what you believe is right. You fight following your heart… Your spark."

"And so where do you fall into that idea?" Barricade asked leaning his forehead on hers.

"I don't know," she said looking away, "I don't really understand _how_ I am in this situation. Not too long ago I was working late shifts at a donut café. Now here I am learning about Autobot's and Decepticon's. Bee say's I'm special… But I don't understand how."

"He's right," Barricade said closing his eyes with his forehead still on hers, "you are truly special."

"That doesn't answer anything!" she growled sliding out from under him. He watched her as she kicked at rocks on the ground, "Ratchet says the same thing. I'm special. Okay, I get it! But tell me how I'm special! As far as I know I'm an ordinary girl. Until recently I lived a normal life. I'm not drop dead gorgeous, I can't sing that well, I can dance okay, I can swim relatively well, but how am I special? It sounds like a bunch of Robots trying to woo me! I'm sick of it! I don't want to be wooed! I just want someone to tell me I'm special and tell me _why_!" He placed his hands on her shoulders stopping her from pacing in front of him.

"You are special because you don't know it," he said and she glared at him. He smirked and continued, "You are special because you are beautiful. You are the only human I have touched and my spark has ignited. When you are not near me it feels like the cables attached to my spark are tearing. You are the only human I have not wanted to kill. You are special."

"This is what I meant," she said her scowl deepening, "a bunch of robots trying to woo me."

"I am not trying to woo you," Barricade said slowly he pulled her close and gingerly touched her wrist, "I just want you to be mine."

"Bite me," she growled and he looked at her.

"What?" he asked unsure.

"I said 'Bite me' aka back off or kiss my tuckus," she said wrenching her arm away from him.

"I don't understand," he said finally, just watching her pace again. Suddenly she broke down into tears and Barricade hesitated for a millisecond before appearing next to her to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Barricade!" she sobbed finally.

"What is wrong?" he asked genuinely concerned with her sanity. After a few breaths she mumbled something about a monthly gift from Mother Nature and Barricade watched her not understanding. He would look it up later. Now was not the correct time.

Barricade paused sensing the Autobots within a twenty mile radius and he looked down at her. He did not know how she was feeling or what she was going through but he would not just leave her like this.

"Come, Alexandra," he said lifting her into his car form.

"Where are we going?" she asked sniffling. He disappeared then reappeared in the driver's seat. Closing his door he began driving.

"I am taking you back to the base," he said looking over at her. She was holding her arms against her chest tightly fighting for a sense of security. Suddenly she looked so very frail and Barricade sighed.

"Where we differ is our appearance does not change with our mood," he said when they were almost back to the base. She looked over at him and watched him with sad eyes.

"Do not look at me like that," he commanded and she looked down. He moved his hand to her cheek and smiled as she looked back at him. "I did not say I did not want you looking at me. I just want to see you smiling. I must go. The Autobots are nearly here."

"Barricade," she said as he helped her out and into their hangar. He had never looked away but he nodded a confirmation he was listening, "I like when you say my full name…" he smiled. "When Bee says it… It's just not the same."

"Because you are mine," he said with a smile his lips dangerously close to hers, "You just don't realize it yet." With that his lips crashed down on hers and he pulled her close. His scanners said the Autobot's were within eight miles but he didn't want to let her go yet. He was pulled from his thoughts as he felt her suddenly kiss him back and wrap her arms around him. Less than five miles. He pulled away from her regretfully and she saw his eyes a brighter red than she had ever seen.

"Be careful," she said as his hologram disappeared. His car form came to life and she watched him leave. She arrived at the rec room and saw the twins arguing about ping pong while same watched them bored.

"Bee is not going to be happy," Sam said as she sat next to him.

"About what?" Lexa asked trying to play dumb. Sam rolled his eyes and looked over at her. He saw her cheeks had tear streaks running down them and he sat up quickly pulling her close to him.

"Did he make you cry?" Sam asked wiping her cheeks.

"Who?"

"Barricade, quit playing stupid Lex, you aren't very good at it."

"No he didn't I'm just a bit emotional right now," she said sitting back in the chair.

"Talk to me," Sam said sinking back into the couch as well, "I don't want to lose someone else because they don't tell me about what's going on."

"When we're alone," she said finally, knowing that Skidz and Mudflap were listening to the exchange in words.

* * *

"When were you planning on telling me?" Bee asked barging into Lexa's room, "When were you planning on telling me that Barricade was here today?"

"Bee I haven't seen you since you got back," she said backing into the corner of her bed. He walked over to her and pulled her close to him.

"He didn't hurt you did he? The twins said you were crying," he said shoving a piece of hair behind her ear. He held onto her cheeks and watched as she looked away.

"He won't hurt me," she said finally, "Not on purpose."

"So he did hurt you!" Bee growled and turned away from her to leave.

"Bee, stop!" she screeched. She had never seen Bee like this. Bee turned to look at her and she patted the space next to her for him to join her.

"He didn't hurt me," she began, "That was not why I was crying…"

"Then why… Tell me what happened please?"

"I'm just really emotional right now," she said and he sat next to her.

"What is wrong," he asked pulling her into his embrace.

"I'm human," she said, "Nothing is really wrong aside from that."

"There is nothing wrong with you being human," Bee said watching her. She just nodded in return. He watched her hands as she moved them nervously.

"Why do you hate Barricade?" she asked but continued before her could start, "And I don't want to hear that it's because he's a Decepticon. There is something more than that and I want to know what. You do not chase after Starscream as you do Barricade."

"Barricade was once an ally," he said after some thought, with a sigh he continued deep in thought, "He was like a brother to me. We trained together as Autobots. After training we were put in the same unit fighting against Megatron. We were spies and quite often we went in disguise even changing our eye color and symbols to blend in. Finally one day Barricade went in as a spy for us and came out a spy for them. Not too long after that there was a major battle. He sided with the Decepticons and killed many of our own friends. Nobody knows why he changed sides, but he did and he killed so many… He has gone after me for a long time. Eventually I quit running from him and joined the Earth mission to find the Cube. Then he appeared and has been chasing down myself and Sam trying to kill both of us."

"He said you would tell me things about his past that were gruesome," she said slowly then she changed the subject speaking quickly, "maybe he's just undercover still."

"I don't think so Lexa," he said, "I don't want to tell you what he did. I didn't like it and there were things I wish I had never seen, but its war and I saw them."

"The things he did though… The really bad things… they weren't to his friends were they?"

"Only one," Bee said remembering, "But they were never really friends. Just allies."

"That's a good thing," she said holding on desperately to the idea, "that means he didn't want to kill them but had to! Bee what if he is undercover?"

"He's killed too many humans to be accepted back," Bee said his face serious.

"That's not fair!" Lexa said finally and crawled off her bed. She put her shoes on and began to leave her room.

"Lexa what are you doing?" Bee said standing and following her after she left her room.

"I'm going to find out the truth either from Optimus or Barricade himself," she said walking towards the main hangar.

"Lexa I'm telling you the truth!" Bee said upset. Why didn't she believe him? She turned abruptly and he stopped just before running into her.

"I know you don't lie, Bee," she said with a warm smile and cupped his cheek in her hand, "but I want to find out the whole truth. I don't think Barricade is bad. He has taken care of me when he didn't need to."

"Lexa he could kill you," Bee said holding her arms.

"So could you Bee, but that doesn't mean you will." Bee watched her for a moment the let her go.

"I'm just worried for your safety," Bee said defeated.

"Thank you Bee," she said with a sincere smile. She leaned up and kissed Bee on the cheek. Swooping down Bee kissed her cheek and forehead as well. Bee wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I'm here for you whenever you need me, you know that right?" Bee asked and he looked down at her red face.

"I know Bee," she said, "And for what it's worth I'm here for you too. I just wish I understood more of what is going on."

"Don't we all," Bee commented and the two began walking - her hand in his - to see Optimus.

* * *

_A/N: Another chappie! *happy dance*_

_Buahaha! Barricade has discovered PMS! Poor baby... Oh well... HEY! Did you see where that D.C. K-9 Unit totally blew through the road blocks while they were filming the new one? My dad and I were talking and proof that Bee isn't really a transforming robot was when the cop took off his nose (or chest plate depending on the form he's in) he didn't transform and chuck the cop somewhere. Woulda been a hilarious promo xD_

_So yeah_

_Special thanks to my reviewers!:_

**_xRachetXNightSaberx: Thanks for writing to me! I'm really glad you like the story. :)_**

**_CharlotteAnnRae: The comp class I'm taking is helping me learn how to use detail more effectively. Your reviews make me so happy :) Hope you enjoyed this one as well! :)_**

**_ultimateanime12: here's your update! :) Hope you like it!_**

**_Midnight Eternial: *cowers in fear* I'm trying! :D I'm glad you like my story and continue to read it :)_**

**_AutobotJena: The shopping tour was my favorite part of that chappie. Lemme know what you think of this one :)_**

_And as you know (**Disclaimer**) I do not own transformers, and this story takes place in the Bayverse. Lexa is my own and if this story should coincide with something else it is coincidence. It is a fan fiction... Wish I owned transformers though._


	6. No Sacrifice, No Victory

**Chapter 6: No Sacrifice, No Victory**

Talking to Optimus did not aid in Lexa learning anything about Barricade. As the days went on Lexa devoted her time to learning as much as she could although she was not just focusing on learning about the Autobots and Decepticons. She was spending less time with Sam, more time with Bee who was still teaching her how to fight, and more time with newly acquired friends Ratchet – who was teaching her autonomous anatomy – and Ironhide – who was teaching her more in depth fighting and how to use different weapons.

Will Lennox was walking around base with Ironhide listening to him speak about the citizen that was now living on base for safety. Apparently she had taken the information about Autobots and Decepticons well and was trying to learn all about them. Ironhide praised her capability of learning and that she never seemed overloaded on information.

"So what were you wanting Hide?" Lennox asked after Ironhide finished praising her once again.

"Perhaps she should be given and aptitude test, and become a soldier. She would benefit our cause," Ironhide spoke.

"She will have to go through basic training and be certified with whatever force she wants to join," Lennox said, "We can't force her to be a Marine."

"Why not?" Ironhide said.

"Because you can't, Hide," Lennox said shrugging his shoulders, "It's her right as an American."

"I will talk to her," Ironhide said, "and you will talk to your leaders. I will train her with Optimus' permission."

"Lexa, why are you doing this?" Sam asked as he leaned against her door. Lexa was packing her clothes getting ready for her trip with Ironhide where she would become a soldier. When Ironhide confronted her it didn't take long for her to say yes, accepting the offer immediately.

"Why Sam?" she asked placing a plain white shirt into her duffle bag. She turned to Sam and smiled, "Do you remember when we were little and we used to sit on my tire swings, swinging over the creek behind my house and you always told me of your grandfather and how he was your hero?" Sam nodded slowly, "You said you would always live up to the Witwicky motto: 'No Sacrifice. No victory.' I tried to live just like that too but as time went by I slowly forgot the words. When Ironhide asked me to train with him earlier those four words came back to me stronger than ever. There is no victory without sacrifice. I want to help them and Ironhide said if I train with him I will become a part of N.E.S.T. the new military team the Autobots and humans are creating." Sam walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"You've got to be careful while you're gone. Optimus knows where you guys are going, but no one else does. You have to stay safe and come back okay?" he demanded hugging her tightly.

"Okay Sam," she said smiling and hugging him back, "I promise I will." There was a cough from the doorway and they looked over. Bumble Bee was standing there his holoform looking disheveled.

"Good luck with your training," Sam said and left the room looking at Bee as he passed by.

"There's another reason why you're doing this isn't there?" Bee asked closing her door behind him. She watched as he walked over to her and sat her on her bed.

"Have you ever been given the chance to be something greater than you are?" she asked him as he sat next to her, "I want to help you. I want to fight by your side to stop the Decepticons from destroying our world." He watched her as she looked so strong saying what she believed in. Part of him wanted to ask how Barricade fit into all this; if this was somehow a way to find out about Barricade, but he couldn't ask. Truth was he was afraid to find out.

"Why do you need to be any greater?" he asked watching her start packing again, "I think you are great enough as it is. Why do you have to fight?"Gaining his strength, Bee finally asked, "This is about Barricade isn't it?"

"I want to prove to the Decepticons that humans are not just irritating pests. That we are greater that our size. If I learn how to fight with Ironhide I can not only help humans but I can prove our worth. If enough people stand up to them, they will realize the truth eventually," she said still packing, "This has nothing to do with Barricade."

"What if it doesn't work? What if they just see your human persistence as a nuisance?"

"'It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed,'" she said and looked at Bee her eyes hard, "Teddy Roosevelt said that and it is the truest statement I know. I would rather fail one hundred times than never try at all." They stared at one another as the moments passed until Bee's holoform flickered then disappeared, reappearing right in front of her. He grasped her arms gently and put his forehead against hers.

"I do not like this, Alexandra Raine," he said in a whisper and he felt her body tremor. He smiled wishing to do it again, "but if it is what you choose… I wish you success. I know you should be safe with Ironhide, but still take caution…"

"Bee, I'm going to be fine," she said smiling at him, "you don't need to worry about me."

"I do worry about you though," he said wrapping his arms around her, "I worry about you every second I'm not with you. I worry that while I'm not with you Barricade will take you from us acting like the good guy you're convinced he is…. Except he's not and we'll find you…. I'll find you… but it will be too late. I just never want to see you hurt Alexandra."

"Bee," she said pulling away from him slightly so she could look at his face, "I'll be fine. Please don't worry so much-"

"Will you be my mate?" he asked quickly. Immediately she turned bright red.

"What?" Realizing he asked the wrong thing, Bee thought of how to rephrase the sentence.

"Will you be my… oh what did Sam call Mikaela?" he questioned to himself trying to find the right human word, "oh sorry will you be my girlfriend?"

"Bee, I don't think that is allowed…" she said looking away.

"Then we won't tell anyone," he whispered quietly, "but I can't help what I feel. You are the only femme I have enjoyed in such ways. Arcee is a pleasurable friend, but I prefer you over her any day. I care for you more than any other 'bot or human I have met. Lexa…" He gently touched her chin and tilted her head to face him. He leaned down so that his lips were close to hers then continued, "…I can't help that I love you." He leaned in and kissed her hoping she would kiss back. He had looked it up and the way he had poised everything was so that it would come down to this and be a romantic moment. He pulled back as she just stood there, slightly crushed.

"Bee," she said her voice meek, "I don't… I'm so confused right now… I don't know what to believe… Please don't be mad… I just need to figure things out." Bee sighed leaning his forehead on hers.

"Lexa, I could never be mad at you," he said with a small smile. She pulled away from his embrace and picked up her bag, getting ready to leave the base. As she began to walk out the door she turned to face Bee. Raising her right hand she beckoned him with one finger. He watched her curiously as he moved closer to her.

"Thank you Bee, for everything you've done," she said quietly and leaned up to his face, giving him a small peck on the lips. As she walked towards the hangar her and Ironhide would be departing from, Bee touched his holoform lips and smiled. _She kissed me…_ he thought, _maybe she does love me back!_

Bee left her room and never noticed the envelope sitting on her desk.

Barricade hated when he actually had to work with the humans to keep up his disguise. Over the past couple of weeks he had put in much more time with them than he wanted; missing several opportunities to see Lexa. And because he had not seen her in a while he was moody and more likely to hurt the humans. However it was not until he was called into the police chief's office that he noticed the change in his attitude.

"Officer Cade, I don't know what has you so pissed off here lately, but I'm getting tired of it. You may be transporting criminals and pulling over people who are breaking the law but that is no reason to break someone's arm," The police chief growled from behind his desk. He was an old man who may have spent too much time eating donuts when he was out patrolling in his youth. His salt and pepper hair was cut short and receding in most areas.

"He was resisting arrest, sir," Barricade grumbled. To say he broke the man's arm on purpose would have been a lie, but it would have also been a lie to say it didn't help him release some of the anger that was boiling in him.

"I don't care don't do it again," the chief said finally standing from his desk, "Now you have the rest of the day off, get out of here." Barricade left grumbling obscenities in his native language; however, he was distracted by the call from Starscream. He was calling out to all Decepticon's in the area; the Autobots had started an attack. Barricade had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The Autobots never engaged in a battle unless something was going on. Not even bothering to use his holoform again Barricade left the parking lot and headed toward their base at full speed. Arriving at the tree overlooking the base Barricade stopped and summoned his holoform inside.

Sam was sleeping on the couch in the rec room while the television was blaring noise from a show about Jersey Shores. The twins who were normally causing mischief somewhere on the base were nowhere to be seen or heard. Going to the only place Barricade knew Lexa liked to hide when thinking about things he went to her room. As he appeared in her room and looked around he knew something was off. There were no longer pictures that the Autobots had gathered for her on any of the surfaces in the room and the bed was pillow less. Walking to the closet he saw that there were no clothes in it. He began to leave hoping he was in the wrong room when an envelope caught his attention. Walking over to it and picking it up, he noticed the words drawn on the front:

…_To Punish_

_And enslave…_

He smiled slightly then opened the envelope carefully.

_Dear Cade,_

_Ironhide is taking me somewhere to train. I want to do this. I want to be able to be greater than who I am… I don't want to be useless like when we first officially met and you saved me from those boys. I saw in the paper that they were missing… Cade what did you do to them? _

_I don't know if we'll be able to see each other for a while. Ironhide wouldn't tell me where we were going, just to pack for extreme cold and extreme heat. And even though I'm nervous, I'm excited too. I hope to see you again in the relatively near future… I miss you Cade…_

_Love, Lexa_

She missed him, but she was standing up for herself. He smiled. She was becoming more and more the girl he knew she could be… The girl he wanted her to be for herself.

* * *

_A/N: Hello once again dearies! I'm so happy with how much you all seem to like my story! You give me so much incentive to continue writing! _

**_Hey!_**_ here's something that I doodled for you guys! (and if you want to glance through my DA account I more than welcome that!) http:/ mikaylastar. deviantart .com/#/d316ky7 except without the spaces... It wouldn't let me enter the actual link._

_Thanks to my reviewers:_

**_SapphirePoenix101:_**_ Welcome to the story! I'm so glad you enjoy reading my story! _

**_Kiren:_**_ Thanks so much for the great compliment! I certainly hope you continue to like my fic! _

_**Ember Lotus:** I could totally see Bee stomping off while pouting! That would be great if they did make a promo off of it! I wanted Barricade to be baffled by something... and I figured most human men are baffled by PMS so why not? lol Sorry for waking your son but I'm so glad you liked it!_

**_CharlotteAnnRae:_**_ I'm glad I'm keeping you thinking! I love your comments and reviews by the way! They make me so happy :)_

_**AutobotJena: **Rooting for Bee huh? I love Bee, he's sooo adorable. Nice hearing from you again, hop you enjoyed this one as well!_

_**Primesbaby007: **Welcome to the story! I'm glad you are enjoying it!_

**_ultimateanime12:_**_ *squeels with delight* so glad you like my story still! I always try to improve and make it as real as I can imagine (for a non real world lol)_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ as always I do not own transformers... or any of the references mentioned such as the Jersey Shore. this is purely fanbased in which I use real life shows, items and people as refrences to make it appear more realistic._


	7. Unporcelain Dolls

**Chapter 7: Unporcelain Dolls**

Although the days were cold and the nights even more so, Lexa found contentment in the seclusion of the Autobots training. High in the Himalayas it was relatively cold all year long but it was closing in on winter and the nights were slowly getting longer and colder. Having grown up in the southwest United States this posed a new problem for Lexa. Cold was something she hated, however, she chose not to complain and just be grateful for what Ironhide was willing to teach her.

It had been a long day and Lexa could barely feel her fingers anymore. Ironhide had offered her his assistance several times, but she denied it, convinced she would be fine without his help. It was nearing dark so Lexa began to make her nightly fire. The cold rainy day soaked the wood sitting on the ground and she realized in retrospect that she should have covered it with the tarp Ironhide made her bring. Cursing to herself quietly she began to search for dry pieces hoping a tree might have saved them from the onslaught of rain. Ten minutes into her walk – and after no luck in finding anything -, she noticed something shiny just past the next major mountain dip.

"Lexa," Ironhide called watching her drift further and further away from the camp area. She waved her hand back at him and held up an index finger. Then swiftly and predatorily she disappeared from his sight. He heard the jet and called after her, she needed to stay by him when the Decepticon's were around.

"Lexa!" the large bot rumbled worry evident in his voice. When she didn't responde he ran over to where he last saw her, searching for her life form. She was leaning on a rock watching the jet randomly take off and land a few hundred meters away.

"Lexa, get out of there!" Ironhide whispered forcefully hoping to catch her attention. She watched for a moment more then sneaked back to their side of the hill.

"That was Starscream wasn't it?" she asked quietly and the large Autobot looked at her amazed.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"He had the Decepticon symbol on his belly," she said slowly, "Barricade mentioned Starscream once and how if Starscream knew about me Barricade would be in trouble." Ironhide said nothing, but shifted into his alternate form. Conjuring up his holoform he opened the door.

"Tonight you will stay in here Lexa," he said definitively. As she began to argue, he shook his head. "That is a direct order." Clamping her mouth shut she looked back towards the jet hearing it take off and leave staying gone this time. She nodded looking back at Ironhide and climbed into his truck cab. Deciding sleep was the best route for the night she laid down in the back area and drifted into a dreamless slumber.

Four-million, two-hundred-ninety-four-thousand, thirty-five seconds. Barricade didn't know when he started counting the seconds since he had last seen Lexa but when he realized he was he groaned. Currently Barricade was sitting near a tree watching the moon and found that unintentionally he was summoning his holoform to lie on his hood. As a whole he hated the human species; however he found himself wishing more and more that he was one of them for her. _For her._ Stupid little human… yet he couldn't hate her for what he felt. Barricade found that he was also watching the radio waves for her signal to call anyone just to hear her voice once again.

"Using that horrible form again?" Starscream said snidely as he landed nearby.

"It is advantageous," Barricade said as his holoform disappeared to stand with Starscream.

"You favor being human?" Starscream growled stepping towards Barricade.

"Not at all," Barricade said coolly, "I simply find it favorable when dealing with them. You were the one who said we should keep in hiding, after all." Starscream growled in dissatisfaction. The Decepticon scout had been testing his patience lately; however Starscream remained tolerable for he had a new piece of information.

"The Autobot weapons officer has started training humans," Starscream said proudly, "I found him training a human femme near the Himalaya's. It will take them sometime to escape all the snow I sent their way." Starscream cackled enjoying himself. Barricade watched him, his anger boiling.

"And just how did you do that," Barricade asked.

"I flew by an unstable snow pack," Starscream cackled harder, "The tiny human girl looked even smaller as she was swallowed up by the snow-" Barricade grabbed the seeker's neck and growled.

"If one hair on her head was harmed," Barricade paused as he realized what he had done and the smile on Starscream's face grew.

"Growing soft on a human femme huh? Were our own kind not good enough for you?" taking the rare moment of Barricade at a loss as of what to do Starscream threw him over his shoulder and kneed him just over Barricade's spark. "Traitor!"

"I am not!" Barricade growled shoving the seeker off him.

"Prove it!"

"How?" Barricade asked as a bad feeling overcame him.

"Bring her to me," Starscream said standing and pulling Barricade up to stand next to him.

"It will have to wait until she gets back with the Autobots," Barricade said after a moment of thought.

"Fine," Starscream leveled, "but I will have my hands on her by the end of that day. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Barricade said. Starscream transformed into the fighter jet and flew off cackling as he went. It was days like this that Barricade wished he was still with the Autobots. Watching the Decepticon leaving he weighed his options. Making his decision he began planning to get Lexa as soon as she came back.

"Ironhide, where are we going?" Lexa asked as she sat in the passenger's side of the GMC Top kick.

"We are on our way back to the United States," Ironhide said his holoform flickering in the driver's seat.

"Aren't we going to go back through Kathmandu?" she asked and Ironhide looked over to her with a smile.

"You noticed," he said, "good. We are heading back via Janakpur."

"Oh," she said and looked out the window, "so I am done training with you?"

"Yes, you have done well," he said pulling her over to him. Ironhide was beginning to understand Bee's interest in the girl, but he had more of a sibling love for her. "I knew you would do well. I am proud of you, _human._" She looked over at him and smiled. It had become a way that Ironhide would show extra affection. Reminding each other she was only a human, the fact that 'Hide felt it was necessary made her smile.

"Thanks Ironhide," she said leaning into the seat, "You're a good teacher."

"You are a good student," he said the smile still on his face, "are you ready to go back then?"

"I think so," she said looking out the window. She was getting butterflies from what Bee told her before she left. She still didn't have an answer for him, but the truth was her thoughts were plagued by the Decepticon she first met. Every thought – no matter what she tried to think of – revolved around Barricade.

"Are you okay, Lexa?" Ironhide asked still watching her, the smile gone from his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said turning to him with a half-smile.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I've just been thinking about things," she said, "Is Barricade undercover for the Autobots?"

"Barricade huh?" Ironhide said with a chuckle, "I thought Bee was just over reacting…"

"What?"

"Nothing, truth is nobody knows what Barricade is doing. It's possible he's that far undercover, but I doubt it. We all do that's why we consider him a Decepticon," Ironhide said as they arrived at the airport. Ironhide stopped the truck outside of a large carrier and turned his holoform towards her fully. "You should ask _him_ if you want to know that bad; after all he's the only one who can tell you the truth."

"I thought you all wanted me to stay away from the Decepticon's," she said staring at him.

"I think you should do what you want to do," Ironhide said, "and talk to whoever you want to talk to. Bumble Bee has confided in me about Barricade several times and how Barricade has taken interest in you. Bee has also told me about your idea that Barricade might be deeply undercover and why, and with him taking an interest in a human such as yourself I can honestly believe it is a possibility."

"I like to believe there is good in everybody," she muttered, "When you believe in the best of people or robots in your case; I think you get the best out of them."

"I think you bring out the best of both our races."

"Thanks, Hide," she said and slid out of the large truck walking towards the Plane to take her seat.

Stepping out onto the tarmac Lexa breathed in the fresh Nevada air. She missed that dry air. Looking around at the familiar area her eyes were drawn to the horizon next to the tree. Two robots were standing there watching over; one she had come to know very well.

"Lexa," Bee said from behind her. She took her eyes off the horizon and looked back at him a smile appearing on her face.

"Hey Bee," she said and turned to face his holoform. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"I missed you Lexa, I'm so glad that you are back," he said and held her tight.

"I missed you too," she said slowly. There was a cough from her left and Lexa looked over to Sam who was standing there waiting.

"Aw Sam," she said escaping Bumble Bee's embrace. She walked over to Sam and hugged him as well, "I missed you too."

"So how many times did you beat up 'Hide?" Sam asked with a smile on his face.

"Well technically once, but it wasn't my fault the roads over there were barely roads," she said patting the trucks hood, "but I think we got all the rocks out of his undercarriage."

There was a sudden commotion and Lexa found Bee and Irondhide standing directly in front of her guarding her from whatever stood in front of them.

"I wish to speak with her," said the baritone voice she knew so well. She slid between Bee and Ironhide to face Barricade and watched him. There was something cold and distant in his voice that she was distinctly aware of.

"Barricade," she said her tone flat, then with the slightest inflation of curiosity and worry, "what's wrong?"

He hated that she could read him so easily that he could say only six words and know he was troubled. His plan was to convince her to go with him, to simply ask her in front of the Autobots so they knew she was willing. He would ask her with a promise of protection. He would do the best he could to protect her from Starscream and if he failed- no he would not fail. It was not an option. He didn't realize how close she was until her hand was resting on his cheek and he couldn't help but lean in and close he pseudo eyes for a brief moment, until she was ripped away from him. Bee was holding her against his holoform snarling at Barricade. With a swift movement, Barricade pulled her from Bee's hands, placed her in the care of Ironhide and threw Bumble Bee on the ground holding his shirt threateningly.

"Never touch her like that again," he growled, "she is not to be pulled around like a rag doll. You will not choose for her. She will do as she pleases to _who_ she pleases."

"You may have her fooled but I have known you for eons! I know the kind of bot you are! I know the lives you destroy! You live off beings that trust you then you destroy them. In their words you are a monster!"

"Bee, Barricade," Lexa spoke leaning down next to them. They both looked at her and she smiled softly, looking at Barricade then Bee and back at Barricade, "let him go he meant no harm by it." Her voice was soft, but demanding and he released his grip on the Autobot, but not before a final shove to the ground. Bee grunted and began to stand but she held her hand to his chest softly, allowing him to sit up and look at her but to go no further.

"Bee," she said her voice soft and her face still in its soft smile, "why can't the past simply be the past. People change when they want to, why is it so unlikely that bots can too?"

"Lexa, you don't know the things he's done, the way he's killed other humans," bee said but she held her hand up.

"I am aware of what he has done in his past both on Earth and on Cybertron. Please, Bee, I you don't trust him, trust my judgement," she said and offered him a hand to stand with. He took it and stood next to her protectively.

"You wished to speak with her," Bee said glaring at the Decepticon, "You'll have to ask her in front of us."

"That is what I planned on," Barricade spoke flatly. He looked at Lexa and took a step closer. Bee growled, but Lexa sent him a dismissive look and he stopped immediately. Barricade looked at her and spoke as soon as she returned his look.

"I wish for you to come with me," Barricade said and he began searching her body for any harm that may have occurred when Starscream caused an avalanche. Thankfully, he found none.

"Why?" she asked and he felt the cables at his spark pull. If Bee had asked, would she have questioned him?

"Starscream is interested in you… I will keep you safe," he said, the last part sounding more like a plea than anything.

"How long would I be gone?" she asked and Bee groaned.

"Lexa you can't possibly be thinking about this! Starscream will torture you!" he said and she held her hand up to him. He grabbed it and turned her towards him.

"Lexa please listen to me," Bee whispered holding her closer than Barricade cared for, "you know I love you and I don't want to see anything happen to you. I beg you please don't even consider this."

"Five days," Barricade growled through gritted teeth, "I'll only have her for five days, or until she wishes to leave."

"Until I wish to leave?" she muttered looking towards him, "and will Starscream approve of that decision?"

"Yes, whether he wants to or not," Barricade said stepping closer again. Bee held her tight and she pulled out from his embrace. Barricade smiled sinisterly at the Camaro as the human femme rejected his protection.

"It is a good thing I didn't unpack yet I guess," Lexa said as she moved towards the plane. She walked up the large ramp and Barricade took the time to grab a hold of Bumble Bee.

"Stay away from her Autobot," he said holding Bee by his shirt collar, "you could never care for her the way I do and you had better remember that." Barricade shoved Bee and walked to the bottom of the plane waiting for her to step out again.

"Where's your," Lexa began but stopped as she saw his true form driving up, "oh there it is."

* * *

_A/N: This one took a long time for me to get out because I've been slammed with homework and actual work here lately and add onto that I needed to buy a car so I've been car shopping..._

_Not excited for my final comp paper 6 pages... yuck._

_I tried to portray the area well, I know the mountains aren't always cold but they're always cool near the very top._

_Thanks to my lovely reviewers!:_

**_Keely Matthews:_**_ I know it wasn't a very quick update but I have a few days off from work this week in which I'll hopefully be able to catch up. Thanks for reading glad you like my story!_

**_Ember Lotus: _**_First of all have i ever mentioned I LOVE your tattoo? I didn't really know how to emphasize the training so I didn't make it very prominent. I love Mr. 'Hide lol heys awesome "I just wanted to show him my canons..."_

**_AutobotJena:_**_ Hey there! It's no problem I don't mind you taking your time on reviewing. :) and you're in luck! There will be more Barricade for sure in the next few chappies!_

**_ultimateanime12:_**_ You're a Bee fan aren't you? lol Oh and this next one will hopefully be up much sooner than this one was. X.X evil comp._

**_Primesbaby007:_**_ Well there was that more you needed lol Hope you liked it!_

**_CharlotteAnnRae:_**_ Um it might kind of bite him in the butt, but it may not either ;) cant give away my storyline! But I think you might enjoy it (at least I really hope so)._

**_EverlastingLife:_**_ Thanks for the compliment! I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Sorry it took so long!_

_and as always **disclaimer: **I do not own transformers or any of the characters in it, just Lexa. This is purely fan made with th intent of enjoyment only._


	8. Dark Clouds on the Horizon

**Chapter 8: Dark Clouds on the Horizon**

Lexa sat comfortably in the police car and watched Barricade's holoform drive slowly compared to normal. He seemed extremely tense and she knew something was wrong.

"Relaxing would do you good, I think," she said and he looked over at her.

"I'm fine," he said, "I'm glad you are not hurt after your training."

"Nope, Ironhide was good to me and made sure I was never in any danger," she said with a soft smile. Barricade smiled back then paused.

"Were there any avalanches?" he asked fearing he already knew the answer.

"No," she said frowning while she thought, "I think it was still too warm for that much snow to have accumulated on the mountain tops." She watched as Barricade gripped the steering wheel harder. "Barricade what's wrong?"

"This is a trap," he mumbled, "Starscream lied to me." He began to turn in another direction and Lexa unbuckled her seat belt leaning closer to him.

"Barricade, tell me what's wrong," she said and he looked over at her.

"Starscream discovered my weakness," he said slowly, "he told me he saw you in the Himalaya's."

"He probably did," she said nodding, "I saw him…"

"He told me he sent an avalanche your way," Barricade said touching her face, "I was so worried I might lose you from him… I attacked him… and he found out what you mean to me… but he didn't send an avalanche at you. I didn't lose you… you're fine. I can't take you to him; he already lied to me once about you."

"Barricade, what side are you on?" she asked and he looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't think about it, just answer. Are you an Autobot or Decepticon, soldier?" she said sternly.

"Autobot," he said quickly and looked away, "But they'll never accept me back."

"Why?" she asked her voice soft again.

"I killed so many of my kind, then when I came here I killed so many of your kind," he said, "but I don't know if I can go back to the Decepticon's either."

"Leaving now would not be a good idea, I think," she said and he looked at her. She was deep in thought, suddenly his processor drifted back to what Bumble Bee said earlier… '_you don't know the things he's done…' 'I am aware of what he has done… why can't the past simply be the past. People change when they want to, why is it so unlikely that bots can too?'_

"Who did you change for?" he asked suddenly and she looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You changed. You decided to become a fighter, to stand up instead of runaway… Why?" he asked and pulled to the side of the road.

"Running away is always an option," she said, "but when has it ever done anybody good? I could live my life being weak or I can do something about it. I can be strong for myself and if I am strong for myself then I am strong for the ones around me. Then they can be strong and fight their battles without having to worry about me. I think it is only fair to be strong for the others around me… For you and Bee…"

"We will always worry," he said putting his hand on her cheek he leaned close to her and smiled, "I believe it is a part of the thing you humans call love."

"What are you talking about Barricade," she whispered watching his face come closer.

"Lexa, you know what I speak of," he said and gave her a peck on the lips, "I love you." He watched for her reaction. She licked her lips and looked away a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Barricade, I," she started.

"Don't think about it just answer," he said, "Do you love me, too, soldier?"

"Yes," she said quietly, "or I think so."

"Good," he said and snaked his hand to the back of her head and kissed her. She returned the kiss and he smiled into it.

"Even if you do not love me forever," he said backing away. His voice was husky as he continued, "you love me now and that is what matters. You are my world, and I would do anything to keep you safe. Perhaps I will never be as perfect for you as Bumble Bee, but I will always be yours only."

"Barricade," she said softly, "Perfection is only an illusion." He kissed her again and found it was another one of the moments he truly wished he was human. She leaned into his pseudo chest and sighed.

"You must take me to Starscream," she said looking out the window, "at least until we figure out what to do with you… Starscream will likely be focusing on me; you need to go talk with Optimus during that time. I have already presented them with the idea that you were maybe an undercover spy. If it's not true and you want to go with it then do so, but let me know."

"I can't let you be alone with Starscream," Barricade said holding onto her. He was towards a make shift Decepticon base, but taking the long way to get there.

"You have to; he's not going to just give me back to the Autobot's once he gets his hands on me. That's why you need to talk to Optimus. Tell him you were going to turn around and take me away once you found out it was a lie, but I decided this," she said.

"He'll want me to watch you being tortured," Barricade said frowning, "it will be my punishment."

"Then take my cell phone and call them for help. It has the direct link to Optimus in there," she said pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and placing it a cup holder. It was quiet between the two for a few moments and Lexa began stroking next to the shifter absent-mindedly. Barricade shivered and she pulled her hand back.

"Sorry," she murmured as she sat up straight in her seat as well.

"I don't mind," Barricade said smoothly.

"But you shivered," she said slowly.

"You shiver quite a lot when you are touched; it is not necessarily a bad thing," he said. Slowly his holoform began drifting away.

"Barricade what's wrong?" she asked and the car chuckled.

"Nothing is wrong, Alexandra," he said, "The Decepticon base is not the best place to use that form is all." As he said that, the doors to the warehouse coming up in front of them opened and he drove in and parked quickly.

"Where is she?" Lexa heard through Barricade, "Where is the pathetic human that has captured the mighty scout's interest?" The voice was grating and she hated the mocking tone. Barricade opened the door and forced her out; he watched sadly, as she stumbled and fell. She stood up and looked around; where did the voice come from? She heard the jet engines and looked up at the ceiling. Starscream was hovering above her and she watched curiously, as he transformed and landed in front of her. He bent down to her level and stared at her. With a growl, he stood back quickly. With a sudden pull on her arm, she was knocked to the ground. A man stood hovering over her, his body flickering.

"Stop your staring pathetic fleshling!" he growled and she glared at him. As a swift kick connected with her stomach, she realized he was not a good person to tempt. He kicked her again and she couldn't stop herself from screaming out in pain. Then another kick, except this time at her chest. He was aiming to kick at her face when Barricade stepped in. From the ground, Lexa realized that the forms they chose were similar except Starscream was paler and his form represented that of Dracula.

"Barricade move," Starscream spoke with authority.

"She is in pain can't you see that?" Barricade said then quickly countered, "So let her be in pain. And as it starts healing hurt her further. The way you're going, you will kill her in less than five minutes."

"Cyclonus," Starscream called across the warehouse and a smaller bot came running over.

"Yes, Lord Me-Starscream?" he hissed and Starscream looked at Barricade.

"Hold him back while I kill his human."

"Oh Yes, my commander!" Cyclonus hissed in happiness. Barricade used his holoform to attack Starscream, but Starscream simply disappeared and reappeared on the other side of Lexa. He lifted her up in front of him and she cried out in pain. What good was the training if she was in too much pain to do anything? _Fight the pain_ she thought then she heard a second voice, deeper and more metallic; _No, do not fight it. Accept it; let it pass._ Starscream was talking to her, but she was ignoring him.

"Girl, have you given up already," he said snidely. When she did not comment he threw her to the ground. She whimpered and he kicked her again. She heard the one they called Cyclonus laughing in the background and wondered what he was laughing at. Slowly the pain from the kicks numbed and she felt far away from her own body. She heard Barricade whispered her name and opened her eyes. His large Decepticon form was leaning over her body. They were in a different area from when she closed her eyes.

"You are awake," he whispered, "You were asleep for so long…" He paused and looked away.

"Did you…?" She asked hoping he would understand what she was asking; _Did you contact Optimus?_

"They disabled my holoform," he said looking back at her, "however I was able to translate the signal and send a message." She closed her eyes for a minute feeling the cold concrete under her body and testing the way her body felt lying on the floor. She opened her eyes again and saw Barricade watching her with curiosity. Slowly she sat up then even slower, she began to stand and he placed his hand behind her much smaller body ready to catch her if she fell. She took a few slow steps then began walking around.

"How long was I out for?" she asked him as she watched her feet.

"Less than six hours." She stopped midstep and looked at him.

"Less than six hours?" she mumbled. Looking at her arms, she saw few bruises and she lifted her shirt expecting to find many more. To her surprise, she had none. "Barricade how do I look?"

"Like a fleshling," Starscream hissed walking into the room and Lexa turned back to face him. She noted that for the first time he did not call her pathetic.

"It's what I am," she said strongly, "therefore it is what I look like." He growled at her and summoned his holoform close to her.

"And you choose this form over our own Barricade?" Starscream growled again, "this frail human frame that lusts for a femme counterpart? Or perhaps that is why you choose this form…" Lexa watched cautiously as Starscream walked closer to her.

"Leave her alone Starscream," Barricade growled.

"You are in no position to be giving orders," Starscream murmured, his voice becoming suddenly husky. Starscream took another step and reached out to touch her. Lexa Stepped away from his grasp and he growled again.

"Stupid femme, come here," he grumbled taking two steps toward her. He reached out again and grabbed her wrist. With a ferocious tug, he pulled her into his arms. She immediately pushed against his chest and tried to get away once again, however, he was still holding onto her wrist. He pushed her to the ground and kneeled over her.

"Behave and I won't hurt you as bad," he said with a throaty chuckle.

"Well behaved girls never made it in the history books," she said and knocked him away from her. She rolled further away from him then ran towards Barricade (who was transforming into his car form) and jumped in the front seat.

"We have to get you out of here," Barricade murmured as he drove. There was an explosion in front of them and Lexa held onto the seat tightly as Barricade evaded. There were several large explosions in front of them and debris began breaking his windshield.

"Barricade are you okay?" she asked and he grumbled something incoherent. A yellow blur flew past Barricade and transformed beginning to fight Starscream.

"Bumble Bee!" Lexa said looking after him a smile forming on her face, "Barricade you should help him."

"No," He growled.

"What? Why?" Lexa asked sitting back into the seat.

"I want you safe before anything else. Stopping to help him would take you out of my care and I won't let that happen," he said softly and she leaned against the seat. He saw the soft smile on her face.

"Barricade," she said.

"Hm?"

"You are a good being. No matter what they think of you; no matter what they say, I know you are, and I think you know that too. That's all that matters."

"Thank you, Alexandra."

* * *

"So Barricade called you in to fight his battle?" Starscream snickered looking at the yellow Autobot. "That human has weakened him."

"I'm not fighting you for him!" Bee growled, "I'm fighting you because you dared to harm her!" Bee tackled Starscream and punched him several times. Starscream transformed and began to fly away. He paused hovering in the air.

"You both aim to keep that human girl as your own! How pathetic," Starscream said, "However, it would appear that you are losing the battle. Perhaps, you need to fight Barricade a little more like a Decepticon to win that pathetic human's interest. When you do, I would like to hear what happens."

"Drop dead, Starscream!" Bee said sending a canon blast at Starscream. Starscream chuckled and left before the attack hit him.

"Think about it," Bee heard Starscream say before he was out of audio reception. Turning to leave Bee growled and smashed a large trashcan near him. _'You can't have her Barricade! She's mine!'_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Whew. Life has just... sucked. It was going great and then WAZAM! It smacked me in the face. It's looking up though, I'm staying confident in myself and my skills and thats all that is important. I'm not gonna lie I can't wait for Comp to be over. We have another huge paper due in about a week, talk about another kick in the face._

I sincerely apologize for the past few delays, I'm hoping to crank out at least half a chapter after I post this maybe more. Sleep hasn't been working with me lately and so I tend to be awake until I just pass out. Then I wake up 4-12 hours later. Crazy.

To my reviewers:

**Lunar Mist:** Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy one of my many brainchildren!

**Everlasting Life: **_I really enjoy love triangles in my writing, it lets me expand so much onto each character and allows me to show the good, the bad, and the ugly of all the characters involved. Hope you enjoyed this past chappie ;)_

**AutobotJena:**_ Hi Jena! I was very much tempted to show what I really invisioned him doing to Lexa in the chappie, but I wasn't entirely prepared for it all to happen in one chapter (also I wasn't sure how gruesome I could be...). And I think Barricade tries to do his best to protect her in this one, once he realizes what Starscream is doing._

**ultimateanime12:** Hi Koko! I'm glad you liked that chapter. And Bee will get his chance ;) Bee has pretty much always been one of my favorite characters. He's so cute. x3

and **Disclaimer:**

I don't own transformers and I am not making any sort of a profit off of this, although wouldn't that be great? 


	9. I am Not a Robot

**Chapter 9: I am Not a Robot**

It was daybreak the next day and Barricade had not stopped driving since the duo escaped the Decepticon base whilst Lexa was sleeping in the seat next to him. He heard Bumble Bee calling out for him several times over the comm. link, but Barricade ignored him. Suddenly the yellow car passed him and slowed down in front of him.

"Barricade, let her go," Bee said with a growl.

"She is safe with me," he said defiantly.

"So that's why she was being hurt by Starscream? We could hear her screaming out in pain through the comm. link. As Autobot's we share our communications and we gave her that phone in case she was in trouble. It was for her safety so whoever was closest could come to her aide. She could have died thanks to you!"

"And thanks to me she is safely away from there."

"Don't you dare!" Bee shouted his holoform appearing in the car next to her.

"Get out!" Barricade growled. There was not enough room for him in the car and because of that, he was practically on top of her. Barricade growled. He did not like that at all.

"I want her with me," Bee growled at him.

"You can't have her," Barricade said, "I can protect her better than you ever could."

"Prove it! So far all you've done is cause her pain!"

"Bee I'm fine now," she said softly and they both paused. Neither of them knew when she woke up.

"Lexa, you should ride with me for now," Bee said.

"Actually," she said as her stomach growled, "I would just like to eat." Barricade nodded and pulled off at the next exit. He found a cute little mom and pop place that was serving breakfast. They walked in and Lexa was happy that all the booths were in use; she did not want to pick sides just to eat. She sat at a table and Bee sat to her right, Barricade to her left. They were glaring across the table at one another.

"Boys behave," she whispered as she noticed the stares from the inhabitants of the restaurant. Bee looked at her first then smiled and grabbed a menu. Barricade continued to glare at the Autobot.

"So _Cade_," Bee said smoothly, "does this mean you're joining us?"

"I will speak with Optimus about it, _Brandon_," he growled back, "don't you worry your little processor about it."

"It's bigger than yours," Bee said in a nonchalant manner, "and as the humans say, bigger is better." Lexa blushed as she heard the reference fly from Bee's mouth. The server, a small older woman with silver hair wrapped in a bun and small half-mooned spectacles covering her eyes, walked over and took their order. After writing down the order, she smiled at Lexa and walked away briskly. Once the woman left Barricade smiled.

"It's not the size of the boat that matters, it's the motion of the ocean," he said low enough for only their table to hear. Lexa didn't know it was possible for her to turn as red as she did, but she was horribly embarrassed. Since when had the conversation become a sexual one? She was glad when the food came, for the conversation had gone downhill from there. To say Lexa was mortified was an understatement. She could not believe the things they were discussing. Bee was the first to notice her discomfort.

"Lexa are you okay?" Bee asked and she shook her head picking at what was left of her food.

"You guys are…embarrassing me," she said sheepishly looking around at the other customers who were staring and whispering. Bumble Bee blushed noticing the unwanted attention and hailed the waitress. He asked for their check and pulled out his wallet as she brought it. He pulled out a credit card and handed it to her. She walked away and was back quickly. Lexa understood; she was trying to get them out of there before they scared away the regulars. Standing as Bee signed the paper, Lexa all but ran from the restaurant. It wasn't until she was standing outside thinking about the looks on the customers faces that she began to smile at the situation. Bee and Barricade walked out shuffling their feet on the ground.

"Alexandra," Barricade said slowly not seeing the smile spread across her face, "I apologize for how I behaved, it there. It was inappropriate, and I was a disgrace to you please forgive me."

"As was I," Bee said rather formal, "I apologize as well."

"It happens," she said quietly the smile still apparent on her face and they looked up hearing in her voice, "I guess it was worth it to see the faces on the customers." Barricade smiled as Bee frowned.

"That's my girl," Barricade said putting his arm around her shoulders. She smiled up and him and Bee grumbled.

"So who shall I be riding with?" she asked and they both looked at her.

"Me."

"Me, of course," Barricade said at the same time as Bumble Bee. She laughed slightly.

"Well there's only one way to solve this predicament then," she stated sticking her hands in her pockets," RoShamBo."

"What?" Barricade asked and she pulled out her hand.

"Rock," she said with her hand in a fist, "Paper." This time her hand was laying flat. "And scissors," she finished holding her hand out in a fist other than her first two fingers which were apart and she pretended to cut the air.

"I don't think that will be necessary," a voice grumbled behind her. She turned to see a tall man leaning on a GMC Topkick and smiled.

"Hey Ron!" She said smiling, "What are you doing here?" Ironhide glared at Barricade as he walked over to the trio picking Lexa up immediately.

"Taking you back home," he said carrying her to the truck. Both Bee and Barricade protested following the truck in his holoform closely. He set her down in the passenger's seat of the truck and closed the door. He turned slowly and mechanically to face Barricade and Bumble Bee.

"You are both failures as guardians for the girl," Ironhide said, "Therefore neither of you get that responsibility any longer. You!" Ironhide said pointing at Barricade, "You let her go into the 'Lion's den' as the human's put it. You realized what was going on, you figured it out, yet you took her there anyway! And you once told Bee he could never care for her the way you do. You're pathetic if that's how you care for someone."

"T-That was what she wished for," Barricade said taking a step back from Ironhide. The normally calm Weapons Officer had just blown a gasket and Barricade was shocked.

"Haven't you learned that even what the humans want sometimes is not what benefits them the best? That sometimes to keep them safe you must disregard their bravery?" he growled and Bee snickered at the lashing Barricade was getting. Ironhide turned his attention to Bumble Bee.

"And haven't you figured out that humans are free spirits and chasing them around does not bring them to you? Lexa cares for you, but you are too blind to see that because of your hatred of Barricade. Perhaps both of you should stay away from her for a while and realize what your actions could have done!"

"I didn't do anything!" Bumble Bee exclaimed, "I just tried to save her from Starscream!"

"And mortify her in front of the humans," Barricade mumbled crossing his arms over his chest.

"You started it," Bee said glaring.

"Both of you are ridiculous," Ironhide said shoving past them. He walked around the front of his truck body and moved to open the door. Before he opened it, he looked at the two of them. "Let me guess, you both felt your spark ignite the first time she touched you? Do you think no one else felt that? You are wrong. Even Arcee felt that. She has a unique signature for a human that is true, but there is no reason for you to treat her as a doll that you can toss around. She is fragile compared to us, whether you like it or not. So back off. It's your only warning."

The car ride was quiet and Lexa knew Ironhide was unhappy. She only heard parts of what Ironhide told both Bumble Bee and Barricade, but judging by the looks on their faces, he had all but attacked the two bots.

"Lexa something is troubling you," Ironhide said from the driver's seat. Lexa looked over at him and smiled.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," she said turning in her seat, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing is-"

"Iron hide I spent the better part of five months with you and I learned a lot. Including the sense that helps me know when you are upset. You are upset please tell me why," she said calmly interrupting him. He looked over at her hardly pretending to drive.

"When you were with Barricade," he began and she noticed they were pulling off the road. As soon as they stopped he continued, "Barricade used the number we put in your phone to contact us. The way we created that signal was so if you were in danger we would all be able to receive the call at once and whoever was closest to the signal could come and help you."

"That's brilliant," she said with a smile and Ironhide smiled back.

"I thought so too, that's why I made it," he said, but his smile faltered, "When he contacted us… You were being tortured. I could hear you screaming in agony and I know I felt the pain you were enduring."

"I don't remember screaming," she said quietly and he nodded.

"It was a terrible voice, and it sounded so surreal. I never want to hear that again," Ironhide said, "I knew Bee was closest and Barricade informed us that there were only two Decepticon's at the base so I spoke with Optimus. Barricade and Bee were placed as your guardians; they were obviously failing so I asked to take over the job. Optimus agreed it was in your best interest."

"Oh, I see," she said listening to him, whilst looking out the window.

"You do not approve of the decision?" he asked genuinely curious.

"It isn't that I disapprove," she said delicately as she looked toward him with a smile, "It's just that it was really my decision so if anyone should be in trouble it should be me." Ironhide nodded as he began to pull away from the spot in which they were sitting.

"I do have some news that you may not like," he said slowly and she looked back at him.

"What is it?"

"Soon you will begin training again," he said solemnly, "This time with the humans. Will Lennox will take care of you. You will only have a couple weeks after we get back."

"Oh," she said looking back out at the barren landscape, "okay." The rest of the journey home was silent.

The hardest part of leaving again was seeing Sam's face when he found out the same morning. He was mad, but not at her and let it be known throughout the base that he did not approve. Barricade sided with the boy.

"Optimus, this is ridiculous!" Sam said, "Why can't she just live a normal life? Why can't she just stay on the base?"

"I agree, she would be much safer if she were to just stay here," said Barricade standing next to Sam in his robot form.

"Let's face it, I couldn't stay on this base for the rest of my life even if I wanted to," Lexa said walking into the room. She nodded to Optimus, "I'm ready to go, sir."

"But Lexa," Sam began and she looked at him, "think of all the trouble you will be put in."

"Think of all the trouble you have _been_ in Sam. If I have to go through all that trouble as well, I want to be able to protect myself. You were supportive the first time, why are you not as supportive this time?"

"Because this first time you were with Ironhide, I knew he would keep you from being hurt. This time you are going with Lennox's team to some random destination across the world for a survival game. You could be killed!"

"Sam, relax," she said, "I can't promise I won't be injured, but I do promise to come back to you completely alive." Sam looked to Barricade.

"Come on man! You've got to take my side against this!"

"I have said all that I can say to her I cannot convince her to change her mind," said Barricade as he looked at Lexa with a pleading glance.

"It's settled then. We will be leaving momentarily," Ironhide said and Lexa smiled walking out the door next to him.

"Hey there, girlie!" Lennox said as Lexa walked into the hangar. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and smiled, "ready for a long trip to Qatar?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said with a nervous smile.

"You'll be okay. I'll be accompanying you for the first leg of the training, then its survival 101!" said Lennox much too excited for Bee's liking. The Autobot summoned his holoform to stand in front of Lennox and Lexa.

"Will, I trust you will make sure nothing happens to her?" Bee said protectively and Lexa smiled at him.

"Relax Bumble Bee, you act like you'll never see me again!"

"If I don't," he began with a warning in his voice.

"Don't worry about it Bee! I'll make sure she's safe!" said Will and they Walked onto the plane. Lexa turned back to her friends on the base and smiled at them. With a couple last glances at Bumble Bee and Barricade, Lexa turned and walked into the plane. She sat down and prepared for her long journey. Qatar was not the true destination; hopefully the pilots and soldiers were the only ones to know that.

* * *

_A/N: I am so sorry it has taken me so long on these past few chapters. This one I actually had a lot of problems with because I'm really trying to build up for the climax of this story and I know exactly how I want the story to go, but getting to that point... well it has been a bit challenging over the past couple weeks. Plus there has been a funeral and finals and ... evil... holidays... . and work... horrible work... that place in which creativity happens yet my imagination is ignored._

_To my reviewers:_

**_ultimateanime12: _**_Thank you for reviewing again and sorry this one took so terribly long._

**_FlamingBitch1408:_**_ Starscream will win. No just kidding, I can't possibly tell you though it will ruin all the fun! I'm interested in hearing who you would like to win though!_

**_CharlotteAnnRae:_**_ Hello dear! I'm not sure how much you will like this chapter, but I am fairly confindent you'll love the ones I'm planning on posting as soon as I finish them up! :) Always glad to hear your reviews. You dont know the smile it puts on my face to see you comparing my stories to the Harlequin Stories._

**_Lunar Mist: _**_They're such boys :). Glad to hear from you!_

**_AutobotJena:_**_ As far as Lexa knows, yes. But I have plans for that as well ;). Sorry this one took so long!_

**_diggydawg: _**_Glad you enjoyed my story so much and sorry it took so long to post a new one. I hope my story continues to pique your interest :)_

_Oh yes, that stupid **disclaimer** that I _must _do... I don't own transformers, only Alexandra Raine. This is merely fan based and something I write for fun._

_Also the title of this story comes from the song 'I Am Not a Robot' by Marina & the Diamonds._


	10. Survival Instinct

Chapter 10: Survival Instinct

South America was warm and moist most of the time. Will Lennox stayed with Lexa as she began her training. On the first day she learned to hunt, kill, skin and cook large mice that occupied the lush foliage. The Mosquitoes were awful and she had to wear much more clothes than she wanted to prevent them from eating her alive. Will showed her how to make a makeshift tent and how to judge where to put it. That night they sat by a fire thankful for the smoke.

"Lexa, I have something to give you," Lennox said sitting next to her. He pulled out a knife in it sheath and handed it to her, "your bowie knife will be your lifeline. As long as you keep that, you can make any other weapon. A spear is just a stick with a point. An arrow is the same thing you just need to make a bow to use it more efficiently. It makes a nice short-range killer too. Keeping this on you can help you survive in the most desperate of situations." She looked at the knife and took it out of the sheath. It was intimidating, the blade itself being the length of her forearm. She held it in her hand then stood and practiced moving fluidly with it, using it as an extension of herself.

"Ironhide taught you swordsmanship?" Lennox asked surprised.

"No, my parents put me in fencing classes when I was about ten," she said putting it back in its sheath, "Although he might have taught me had he not known that." Lennox nodded and looked up at the night sky.

"I think you should head off to bed," he said, "I'll take first watch. Learn to sleep lightly; your life can depend on it." She nodded and walked into the make shift tent and laid down.

It was the middle of the night when she heard a twig snap near her sleeping area, but she kept her eyes closed. She soon heard the almost silent breathing long and slow. Human. She rolled onto her side hiding her hand under her pillow where the bowie knife was lying. Half a step closer and the person would be too close, so she rolled off her makeshift bed and launched her pillow at the man's face. She stood up jumped on the man where half a second after she first moved he was lying on the ground, disarmed and had a knife at his throat. The black man smiled.

"Very good job, Lexa," Epps said with a smile, "good instinct." She helped Epps off the ground and smiled.

"Thanks," she said and laid back down ready to sleep.

The next morning came early and Lexa woke up quickly but took her time getting up. She rolled off the makeshift mattress and changed. She wore a long sleeve light color shirt with tight fitting long pants. Heavy, but protective boots adorned her feet.

"Ready to go?" Will asked as he walked into her makeshift tent.

"Almost," she said quietly. Will noticed she wasn't as perky as the day before and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Tired?" he asked and she nodded, folding up her sleeping bag. "You did great last night, but one win won't keep the enemy away. In battle they will keep coming back until they die or their resources are depleted."

"I would have killed him," she said tiredly.

"You'll never know," Will said, "You cannot say whether you would have or wouldn't have, because you knew we were testing you. You knew it wasn't actually a life or death situation."

"I would have if I had needed to," she said defiantly.

"Wait until you kill someone the first time," Will said softly, "you will either thrive from it, or you will hate yourself, until the numbness overcomes the agony." She looked at him, eyeing him closely.

"Speaking from personal experience?" she asked and Will sent her a laugh.

"No, I always have killed men who were trying to kill me. My first kill was followed closely by my second and third. I never had time to think about it. That was the best part. It's how I can still do it and be seemingly unaffected."

"I see," she said, not wanting to make him think about it. He patted her shoulder.

"We'll be leaving this spot in ten minutes, be ready."

The next several days followed with a routine regiment. They would wake up with the sun and walk about the tropical forest. They would hunt for animals and often found natives that helped them find edible herbs. Lexa learned a lot through these experiences. She discovered that they were in Brazil most of the time, venturing occasionally into Columbia. Her Spanish was fine-tuned as she listened to Will speak with the Natives. Most of the time when Will translated he translated perfectly, but sometimes he tried to filter things, such as the stories of the monsters that lived in the forest.

"No es un monstruo que acecha en la parte profunda de la selva. Se trata de un gato gigante. Tiene pelo negro como la noche y los ojos amarillos como un canario. Es un asesino silencioso, dando un gruñido bajo que uno debe estar escuchando a escucharlo," said the Brazil Native.

"He said there is a big cat lurking," Will said unhappy, "We'll need to be cautious."

"¿Cuántas personas han sido atacados?" Lexa asked.

"oh, muchas de las personas. La bestia ha matado a cuatro hombres, tres mujeres y seis niños," said the man solemly.

"¿Dónde han estado estos ataques?" Lexa asked and Will stared at her.

"You speak Spanish?" Will asked her, but the man spoke.

"No muy lejos de aquí. A veces visita el pueblo también,"

"Gracias, señor," Lexa said with a smile.

"You couldn't tell me you spoke Spanish?" Will whispered as the man walked away.

"You always translated mostly right so I didn't worry about it."

"I wouldn't have had half of those conversations with you around had I known!" Will grumbled angrily.

"And I would not know the actual dangers of the forest," Lexa said facing him, "Will, this is supposed to be survival training. If I were captured by somebody here I could not let them know that I know what they are saying. What if I were kidnapped and they were discussing top secret plans thinking I was ignorant of the language? I would be at an advantage and if I could get away, I could tell somebody.

"Plus with pretending not to know what you were saying I now know that there is a giant cat that is killing men, woman, and children. I think I needed to know that Will," Lexa said putting her hand on her hip.

"I still wish you would have told me," Will said with a grumble, "where did you even learn?"

"I went to a public school in the Southwest United States. Aside from two years of a foreign language being required in high school, half of my friends were Hispanic."*

"I guess that's a good point," Will said and they began walking into the jungle.

The rest of the day was quiet and for dinner, they ate beans (which Lexa hated before her journey) and some rabbit like creature. Lexa noticed she was keeping her bowie knife close to her and closer to the fire as the day drifted into the night. Will was fast asleep while Lexa slept softly listening for '_un gato gigante'_ incase the cat made a visit. That night, nothing happened.

Nor the next night.

Nor the night after.

"Lexa," Epps spoke as she walked out to meet Will one morning. She jumped at his presence then smiled.

"Hello, Epps," she said, "How have you been?"

"Just fine," he said smiling back, "Today and tomorrow are going to be your final test to see how well you've learned."

"You're gonna be flying solo," Will said picking up all of his equipment.

"You'll meet us at the town not too far from here and tomorrow evening we'll be picked up by a helicopter to take us to an airport," Epps said watching her cautiously. Suddenly he pulled out a radio. "Use this; if you need any help, let us know. While we want you to do well on your own, we like you. We want you stay alive."

"Thank you, but I will probably keep it off. It is supposed to be a lesson in survival," she said taking the radio.

"If you hear any noises, don't hesitate to contact us, Lexa," Will said grabbing her arm, "That cat has killed more people and it seems that it has been following us." Lexa nodded.

"I'll keep it near," she said, "if it would make you feel better."

"It would," both Epps and Lennox, said at the same time. She smiled and waved good-bye as the two men left her makeshift camp.

Lexa spent most of the day traveling towards village. She wanted to be near the town before nightfall for it meant less traveling in the morning. She didn't stop traveling until it was near nightfall and her stomach growled with hunger. After setting up her makeshift home, Lexa searched around the immediate area for something to eat. Soon she found a green iguana. She was not excited about eating the creature, but she was hungry and meat was meat.

Lexa sat near the fire after eating the cooked reptile and looked around her camping area. She had picked a place that was in the open, a place where the full moon could shine down and illuminate the night. Soon she would douse the fire so her eyes could adjust to the night. With a sigh, she listened to the nighttime noises of the rainforest. A Macaw nearby screeched out its call and the mosquitoes buzzed near her head ferociously, but would not come too close for she sat under the smoke. As the moon shone brightly, Lexa decided it was time. Once the fire was out Lexa retreated to the makeshift tent.

Lexa slept peacefully for the most of the night it was very near sunrise when Lexa awoke to silence. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around her area unmoving. She noticed two walls of the makeshift tent had been disturbed. As she glanced towards the opening, her heart sank with fear. Staring back at her was a large black shadow with eyes as yellow as a daffodil. Lexa Raine could not believe how in time of fear such as she was in, she could think of such a likable comparison.

The beast stared at her with his tail switching back and forth. She waited until it glanced away from her to move her hand to her pillow. She gripped her bowie knife tightly prepared for the beast to come closer. Her small gun, Lexa knew, would not make a difference against the beast. _It'll make a difference,_ Lexa thought, _It'll piss that big beast off._ The cat let off a low growl as it began to inch closer to her. Lexa felt her heart in her throat and felt her heart beat rapidly increase. The cat hissed at her; it knew she was awake. Lexa tensed, her hand tightening around the bowie knife.

The beast jumped at Lexa and she rolled onto the ground next to her makeshift bed. She ran out to the open area with her knife in hand, as the beast lunged at her again. Lexa cried out in pain as its claws slid across her back. She spun around and swung at the beast's face, catching the left side of its nose and left cheek with her knife. The beast growled out in pain and recoiled. Lexa backed up against a tree and cringed as the bark touched her wounds. The beast lunged at her and she moved to the side as it crashed into the tree. She stabbed it, trying to hit a spot on its spine to paralyze it. She missed and jumped away, knife in hand, as the beast swung at her again. This time it caught the left side if her face. She fell back and gripped her face with her empty hand.

"I guess we are even now," she whispered to the beast and it growled at her poising to strike again. She noticed how it kept weight off its right front leg. She must have struck that shoulder. It moved to strike and she move out of its way again and jumped onto its back. The beast thrashed about and tried to knock her off his back. She gripped its skin tightly and aimed. She struck the animal's neck with ferocity and it cried out sharply then collapsed onto its side. She cried out in pain as its weight felt like it crushed her left leg.

She stepped in front of the beast watching as it remained motionless and dropped her bowie knife. She breathed heavy, adrenaline still coursing through her body. She turned and began to walk to her tent when there was an excruciating pain in her ankle. She screamed out and looked down. The beast was digging into her legs with his claws. She reached down to grab her knife and it bit her wrist. _If it's going to die, it wants to take me with it!_

Lexa grabbed her knife with her other hand and stabbed the beast in the head and it finally fell slack. Its claws retracted slightly so Lexa could at least move her ankle, but its jaw remained tense along her wrist. She tried to open its mouth, but found it difficult. After a few minutes of trying, she succeeded. Her wrist was in horrible pain as well as her ankle and back, but she would be O.K. on her own, in that she was confident. She moved to her makeshift tent and began packing to leave.

After a few minutes, she realized she was bleeding more that she realized and she began bandaging her wrist and ankle. She finished packing her things and looked at the radio sitting next to the small gun Lennox gave her. She picked up the radio and turned it on.

"Will? Rob?" she said into the radio. It wasn't until she heard her own voice that she realized how tired she was.

"Lexa?" Will responded quickly, "what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she said with a sigh, "but can we meet at the village now?"

"We'll be there to get you in a few minutes, over-"

"No, Will-!"

"- and out!" She sighed and set down her radio, putting it in her bag. She picked up her bag and gun and moved out into the clearing. She didn't want to fall asleep as she sat there, feeling she was not in a good enough condition. She looked over at the large cat. It was lying on its side, its eyes still open. She walked over to it slowly; worried it might still be alive somehow. When it didn't flinch, she stepped closer and closed its eyes.

"Lexa?" Rob Epps called for her.

"Right here," she called standing up from the giant cat. Will saw her first and ran at her then saw the large black cat lying behind her.

"Lexa watch out! That big cat is," he paused slowing as he saw her scratched face and the motionless cat, "is dead behind you."

"I killed it," she said with a sad smile, "one of us had to die for the other to survive. Perhaps we could start on our journey to the village."

"Yeah," Lennox said watching her closely, "this way." They led the way to the village and as dawn lit up the area, the two soldiers began to notice the bad shape Lexa was really in. Rob was the first to notice Lexa was limping. He moved next to her, put his arm around her back and began to pull her closer to him, until she yelled out in pain. He moved his arm quickly to see blood on his hand. He noticed her backpack was covering her back and the part closest to her body was dark.

"What is that?" Epps asked looking at her back.

"That cat got my back pretty good," she said quietly, "I tried to bandage it good enough until we got somewhere to take care of it. Don't tell Will yet."

"Are you kidding?" Epps said staring at her, but she looked back defiantly. "Hey, Will. We need to stop and take a look at her back."

"Epps!" she hissed mad at him.

"Don't 'Epps' me!" he said, "If we don't make sure it's okay now, it could get infected by the time we do. Infections can take your life. Your pride isn't worth it."

"I'm not proud, I'm just trying to wait until we get to somewhere a little more sanitary," she said with a pout on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Will said, "Let me see your back." She slowly took off her backpack and hissed in pain as she did.

"Holy Hell," Epps said staring at her back.

"Alexandra!" Will yelled at her. "Why were you keeping this from us?"

"I could ignore the pain, until it was touched," she said, "I didn't want this to happen."

"Let's at least wash it out for now and get it clean," Epps said before Will could yell at her again. Lexa nodded and sat on the ground. They washed the wound out with water then Epps opened a bottle of something brown.

"This'll hurt like a bitch," he said, "scream all you need to." He began pouring on the liquid – which Lexa quickly realized was whiskey from the odor and sting – and Lexa let out a scream of agony.

"Jesus!" she gasped as Epps quit pouring the whiskey on the wounds.

"That will keep you sanitized for a while," Epps said as he lifted what was left of her shirt to put the bandages on.

After her bandages were on, they traveled for two and a half hours to the nearest village. Upon arriving, Epps began looking for a medicine man or woman. After a little over ten minutes he found a woman. When Lexa was introduced to her, she was smoking an herbal cigar.

"Hola," Lexa said with a tired smile, "Gracias por recibirme tan temprano en la mañana."(Thank you for seeing me so early this morning).

"Ah, que mi hijo no es ningún problema en absoluto! Debemos entrar. Este aire no es bueno para sus heridas," said the old woman leading Lexa into her small hut (Ah, my child it isn't a problem at all. Let's go inside. This air is not good for your injuries). Inside seemed almost mystical, Lexa realized and began wondering if the woman was a doctor like figure or a voodoo woman.

"Alexandra relajarse. Será más fácil que curar si se calma," said the old woman (Alexandra relax. It will be easier to cure if you are calm).

"¿Cómo sabes mi nombre?" Lexa asked. The woman knew her name, but how? (How do you know my name?)

"Yo sé muchas cosas, porque los dioses me lo permite," she said with a sly smile (I know many things, because the gods let me.) Lexa lied on the bed she was shown and relax. The woman lit a group of herbs that were lying in a bowl and began singing as she placed the bowl under Lexa's nose. The world became hazy and the woman's singing faded into a strange dream.

When Lexa awoke she was sleeping on a bench, her head resting on Master Sergeant Epp's leg.

"What happened," she asked drowsily. Epps looked down and smiled.

"Welcome to the living," Epps said with a smile, "we're on our way stateside."

"I was in that woman's hut," she murmured.

"She healed you pretty good," Epps said, "Don't know what she did, but your healing quickly. She said you wouldn't have much pain from now on. How do you feel?"

"Fantastic," she said sitting up slowly.

"Oh she gave me this, said she found it in your arm," Epps said holding up a woven necklace with a canine tooth hanging from it. He laced it around her neck and tied it on.

"You know kid, you did pretty well," he said, "That was one big cat that attacked you, and you did a pretty good job killing it. I think you'll be an asset to our team."

"Thanks Epps," she said with a smile, "but I think I'm going to catch up on a little more sleep that I missed on this trip." He nodded to her smiling and she laid her head back on his legs and fell fast asleep.

* * *

_A/N: here's to you guys! As a thanks for staying with me this entire time I tried to make this one longer. It will be updated because I know there are parts that need to be revised, but I wanted to give this one to you. There was no Bee or Cade in this one, but there will be next chapter. I actually wrote most of it a while ago so it should be out fairly soon._

_Also, with Lexa knowing Spanish, it is actually part of the reason I chose the Amazon in this chapter. I was actually thinking of using India, but I only know a little bit of Spanish, so that way I could get a general idea of what I was trying to get the characters to say. Hopefully between me and the translator I got the language right. Also, if you speak the language fluently and you saw some major errors, **Please let me know so I can fix it.** I'm not afraid to admit part of my translating was probably not correct, plus I understand that Spanish is much like English (and I suppose any other language) containing colloquialisms. If the language needs to be changed let me know. :)_

_Also, the bowie knife... you may ask why I had that be her primary weapon... simple answer, its what I was taught! :) My grandpa was basically special forces in WWII and he taught me to, if nothing else, keep a knife on you. If you are stuck in the woods with nothing else... if you are in a situation with a choice of any weapon... choose a knife, because with knives you can make any weapon. It's something that has stayed with me, and has actually saved my ass more than once. Nothing like Lexa, but its prevented me from getting really hurt._

To my Readers:

**ultimateanime12:** I wanted to keep it appropriate for the rating I have my story at so I left out a lot of the original banter, just to be safe, so some of it may not have made sense, unfortunally I have not revised it since I originally wrote it. I'll look at it again though and see if there is anything I can do to fix it up. Thanks for still reviewing!

**Ninjastar-117:** Well something happened! I'm sure you were thinking it would be something to do with the Decepticons. I thought hard about that, but she really needed to be trained, so I stuck with a survival training. Don't worry though, I'll make it up to you ;)

**AutobotJena:** Hiya! No Bee and Cade will probably never get along again, especially with Lexa involved now. Their relationship before was sketchy at best, but now its full blown war between the two to see who can get the prize... but who shall it be, hm? ;)

**Lunar Mist:** Yup, Hide, luuuuuvs Lexa, but in an almost fatherly way. He's very protective of her. And no Barricade didn't like it. I've got to work on writing that into the next chapter, because I intially had a something else going on, but this was much better.

**Midnight Eternial**: thanks for the vote of confidence! I try to do my best on the stories, so I actually scrap **a lot** of stuff, because I get bored reading it... So glad your reading and ejoying my story still! :)

**Everlasting Life: **I know! But whoever doesn't get her this time, I'll make a story for later ;) thats the only way I can stand myself for choosing between them lol

**AlarataraWitchIce:** Well, I'm thoroughly greatful that you enjoy my story! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations!

**Sgt. Scruffy: **Firstly, I love your name :) Secondly, thank you! I'm glad to hear you like my story! Hope this one was enjoyable as well.

And finally my **disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers. The only characters I own are -well there's actually only one - Lexa. This is done purely for fun... :D*cheesegrin*


	11. Scar Tissue

**Chapter 11: Scar Tissue**

_"Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on." ~Henry Rollins_

Dissatisfied. There was very few other ways Barricade could summon his feelings at that precise moment. Since Lexa left, Barricade spent most of his time with Sam, finding the kid he once hunted as a good person to spend time with. Sam helped him learn more about human customs, which Barricade was thankful for but would never admit, well, not to Sam anyway.

What Barricade was most dissatisfied with though, was not his time spent with Sam, but that Ratchet was going to be the first person to see Lexa when she arrived. That wasn't the worst of it though. Bee would see her next. He heard the Autobots saying they didn't want him to see her in the state she was in. That made him most angry. What happened to her while she was away? He should have known better than to trust the humans with her. Barricade knew she was safe with Ironhide, that Ironhide would risk his own life to protect her. These humans had apparently not been the same.

Barricade saw the plane touchdown on the runway and thought of summoning his holoform inside the plane. Deciding to work on earning the Autobot's trust Barricade watched from the hangar doors. He saw Lexa exit from the airplane a small limp in her step. The growl escaped Barricade's lips as he watched her. She smiled, but he knew she was in pain. Ratchet was speaking with her, so Barricade decided he could join. When his holoform appeared next to her, she didn't notice. As she talked with her hands, it took Barricade a moment to notice her mangled wrist. When he did, he gently grabbed her arm above it and inspected it.

"Barricade," she said with a smile, then she noticed his frown, "It's okay, Cade." He looked up to her face and saw the scratches on her cheek. He growled.

"You are in obvious pain from this little 'training' routine," he grumbled, "They should have kept you safer."

"It was survival training. I was on my own for only a day and night, it just happened that a beast of a black panther thought that I would be an easier target that the two men. Do not blame them for something they could not control," she said in an even tone. Barricade winced, but nodded.

"I guess… You are okay, and that is what matters," his frown was not gone, but he held Alexandra close and kissed her forehead.

There were more formal frivolities before Barricade could take Lexa away and survey the damage that had been done. She had to speak with a man on the opposite side of the country about what happened. Then she had to retell the story to Optimus. After Optimus heard of the old woman, he forced her to be examined by Ratchet. Lexa protested, but eventually quit fighting Optimus about it when he gave her a stern lecture.

Ratchet offered for Barricade to be in the room for the examination, but Barricade chose to stand in the hallway. Something about the idea of seeing her body flustered Barricade and as such, it left him terribly uncomfortable. Standing out in the hallway Barricade grumbled at himself. Caring for her in the way he did was _wrong_, he knew that, but he couldn't control it… They _were_ more like humans than they cared to admit.

When Ratchet finished, he let Barricade enter the room, saying she was healing very well. Upon entering, Barricade noticed Lexa was facing away from him. She had on a spaghetti strap tank top that did not cover all of her back. Quickly she put on her jacket, but Barricade saw the four lines going down her back until her shirt hid them. They were scabbing and still terribly red around the mark, but Barricade did not see any infection.

"How are you feeling?" Barricade asked after a few moments of figuring out the right words. She turned quickly not realizing he was there.

"Oh, I'm fine. A little sore from inactivity on the plane ride home and it feels a bit funny to place pressure on my ankle, but otherwise I'm great actually," she said with a smile, "that woman in that little village must have fixed me up good. Thanks for asking." Barricade nodded.

"Your back looks painful," Barricade began and her body tensed slightly.

"You saw that, huh," Lexa said with a stiff laugh.

"Yeah, I saw it," he said with a sigh, "Don't worry I won't kill them…This time."

"Barricade, if they had known at all that I would have been in trouble, they would not have left me on my own," Lexa said with a sigh.

"Lennox was nervous about it though. He told Optimus there was a big cat attacking the villages and that he should have known. Well he's right, you could have been kill from his stupidity."

"But I wasn't," she said softly as she stood in front of him, "and the mission was a success. Go in, learn a lesson, get out alive. Barricade, there is always an infinite amount of 'what ifs' and 'could haves, would haves and should haves' but what is important to learn is what happened and whether the option was successful, or not. I'm fine, so quit focusing on what _could have_ happened and focus on what _did_ happen and be happy for me."

"Alexandra, I am happy for you," Barricade said pulling her into a gently hug and cautious not to touch any tender spots on her body, "I just wish you weren't so fragile."

"I'm sorry for being human," she said flatly, clearly upset by his words. He leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips.

"Don't be, it suits you," he said with a coy smile, "now how about some food?"

"Lexa stay here for this mission," Barricade stated. She watched him as his holoform stood from her bed to leave then she stood as well. Nearly three months passed since her mission in the Amazon, and she was sporting scars from the incident quite well. Barricade had laughed when she said they gave her character, but she was right. With those scars, she looked more like a warrior than the others did.

Ironically, or so Barricade thought, she had actually become the best warrior too. The killing never got to her head, because she only killed when necessary. The mission later in the day would be her fourth mission as a member of N.E.S.T. but Barricade knew she wouldn't be under his protection so did not want her going.

"Barricade, I'm coming on this mission," she said defiantly as she leaned on her bed.

"No you're not," he growled turning to face her.

"I'm a part of NEST now, I can't just skip out on missions because you don't want me going!" she hollered back sitting up straight.

"You will not go on this mission," he said, "even if it means I have to chain you up somewhere and destroy the key." Her eyes softened and she touched his arm gently, standing and pulling him closer.

"Barricade what's going on in that processor of yours?" she asked and he turned to stare at the girl in his holoform. He sat her down on her bed and with a sigh sat next to her.

"Today's mission will be… too dangerous," he said sighing in defeat, "Starscream informed me that Megatron is back."

"Why are you talking to Starscream?" she asked and for some reason her accusing tone stung.

"He never quit contacting me once I left," he said, "I've been contacting him back for about a month now." He never wanted to lie to her, so he told her the truth, but he hadn't expected her to get so upset.

"Barricade," she said her voice shaking and he cringed. He looked away ashamed of himself, "they were finally beginning to trust you… Today's mission is your idea Optimus told me that. So you're betraying them?"

"Lexa, it's not really what you think," Barricade said as she stood.

"Prove it," she said looking at him eye to eye, "Prove to me that you are not sending them into a trap." Barricade sat there wide-eyed for a moment and said nothing. What was there to say? She was right. He _was _sending them into a trap.

"That's what I thought," she said as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I guess I should have known it would happen sooner or later." With that, she walked out of her room and Barricade heard Bumble Bee call after her. He had been so confident about his decision up until the moment he told her. Why did he now hate himself? His holoform dissipated and he opened his optics.

Sitting in the hangar, he found almost all the Autobots were there. Arcee, the femme motorcycles, was in her holoform talking with one of the human soldiers. They were smiling and enjoying themselves. There was a pull on Barricade's spark cords and he wished that were he and Lexa. Barricade heard jet engines and noticed all of the people in the hangar looked out to the airfield. His holoform appeared by the door and a pilot was stepping out of a jet. It was at that time that Barricade noticed Lexa. She was walking up to the plane with Ironhide, Optimus and Bee all in their holoform. The pilot saluted then handed the helmet to Lexa. Barricade realized that she was accepting his helmet and testing it for size difference. She smiled to the pilot and nodded. He smiled and ran off. Lexa was pointing up at the jet and Barricade tried to extend his hearing to see if he could hear her.

"I think some markings would do well for the paint job," she was saying. Bee had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Barricade and Bee's eyes met and Bee smirked pulling her closer to him. She did not argue, still speaking with Optimus. "He said it's weird to ride in. Instead of sitting up like a standard jet, you lay on your stomach. Optimus, do you really think I'm capable of learning this?"

"You are," said Ironhide before Optimus could respond, "I know you're capable of anything."

"Thanks Hide," she said a smile falling over features.

"He is correct," Optimus spoke finally, "What do you think Barricade?" Barricade was standing across the airfield and watched Optimus. Optimus was smiling knowingly at him. Barricade nodded and fell back into the hangar. He passed two male soldiers who were watching Lexa with smiles.

"Dang," said the Hispanic one, "mami is on fire."

"Talk about her again and it will be the last words you speak," Barricade growled turning back to the man.

"Aye, I was just saying," he said.

"So was I. Stay away from her."

_An hour until the mission._

Barricade sighed as he lay on his hood, having Lexa mad at him was really unpleasant. To be honest, she was the only reason he had tried to join the Autobots again. He joined them so he could be closer to her and like the snap of two fingers he accidentally pushed her away. He sighed again, deep in thought and began to wonder if he should tell Optimus. Sending a message to the Autobot leader Barricade slid off his hood. It was so natural being human now. How could one girl make him want to be something entirely different than he was?

Optimus's hologram stood next to him suddenly and Barricade noticed that his form flickered. Optimus stood taller than Barricade at close to six and a half feet. He was wearing an off-white button up shirt with a dark brown leather jacket over it. His shirt was tucked into his tan pants and atop his head, he wore a dark brown fedora-like hat. He was muscular and even with his age an overall handsome man. Barricade used a recognition program and found out he was much like a fictional character known as Indiana Jones.

"You called upon me Barricade?" he asked his form no longer flickering. That must mean he was coming closer.

"I… This mission," Barricade sighed, "It is supposed to be-"

"A trap," Optimus finished for him, "Yes I know."

"What? Then if you knew why are you continuing to go on it?"

"I wanted to see if you would ever tell me," Optimus spoke and Barricade could hear his true form walking closer. "I must admit, I didn't think you would. It would seem you have been troubled today though."

"How did you find out?" Barricade asked referring to the trap.

"Bumble Bee has been watching your transmissions, in case something like that would happen," Optimus's form faded, as he stood tall in his robot form. Barricade transformed and stood next to him as well. Even in this form, he was much shorter than Optimus.

"What has troubled you?" Optimus spoke after a few moment of silence.

"Alexandra found out," he said, "I told her the truth, because I did not want her possibly harmed in this mission. She has not spoken to me since."

"Humans are fragile beings," Optimus said, "yet they are stronger than we realize. They are guided by their emotions, you have felt this I'm sure with all the time you've spent trying to be one."

"It has been a waste of time, she is more interested in that brat than she is of me," he growled.

"I wouldn't say that," Optimus said, "I spoke with Sam. He informed me she is unusually upset and the only person who would not ask her the reason for her sadness was Bumble Bee. Bee already knew what you were planning so he prepared for her to find out and not take it well. He thought it would be, as the humans refer to it in a game, checkmate."

"It's not over," Barricade grumbled.

"No I believe you are correct," Optimus said as he began to walk away. He paused and turned back to Barricade, "She told me you did not want her on this mission, so she requested to back out. Why don't you let her go and be with Bumble Bee or yourself for extra protection?" He walked away and Barricade grumbled. Taking the girl he cared the most about seemed like a horrible idea; especially now that he knew the Autobots were setting a counter trap. On top of that, Barricade had to convince Lexa to listen to him. She made it clear earlier in the day she wanted very little to do with him.

"It's worth a shot," he said with a sigh and searched the grounds for her once again. He saw her heat signature in her room and materialized his holoform outside her door.

"Alexandra," Barricade said knocking, "I wish to please speak with you."

"About what?" she asked from the other side of the door. He expected this, but still he wished for better.

"Regarding my actions," he said. He did not hear anything for a few moments then smiled as her door opened. His smile quickly faded as he saw Bumble Bee lying on her bed with a smirk on his face.

"May I speak with you privately?" Barricade asked looking at her only, his voice low.

"I think whatever you have to say, should be said in front of me," Bee said appearing behind her. She tilted her head back to look at Bee and smiled.

"Bee, it's okay," she said, "I'd rather talk to him alone anyway." Bee looked down at her his amused smirk gone replaced with a dissatisfied frown. His hologram disappeared and Barricade and Lexa were alone. She stepped aside and let him into her room, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I told Optimus; he already knew and they were planning a counter attack." She looked surprised.

"He knew?" she asked, "How did he know? I didn't say anything to him about our discussion."

"Bumble Bee was intercepting my transmissions," Barricade said she eyed him and he quickly countered, "Lexa, I'm not saying that to place blame on anyone. It is what Optimus told me. Also, if you wish to go on this mission… and you stay in my sight or in the safety of one of the Autobots… you should go."

"Even if I'd rather go with Bumble Bee than you?" she asked and he flinched but nodded. He looked down at the ground not wanting to see her thinking about it. Had he been watching her he would have discovered she was watching him intently, a loving look in her eyes. She reached up to his chin and forced him to look at her.

"Relax," she said quietly, "don't you know some questions are hypothetical?" She hugged him and smiled.

"I want to go with you," she whispered into his ear, "And I'm glad you informed Optimus. You are a good man, Barricade."

"I am not a man though," he said and she backed away with a smile.

"No, you're not," she said, "but you are still good. You are making good decisions, becoming a better person."

"You are my source of greatness," he said sliding his hand into her hair and leaning his forehead on hers. "If I were Superman, you would be my Lois Lane."

"How sappy," she said with a laugh as she looked into his eyes. Suddenly she stared at him her face serious. "'Cade?"

"Hm?" he murmured a smile gracing his lips.

"Kiss me?" she whispered and he stared at her for only a moment then picked her up and kissed her.

"Do you want to know something?" Barricade asked as he placed soft kisses along her neck, cheek and lips.

"Hm?" she muttered her eyes closed as she enjoyed the sensation of his kisses.

"You make me wish I was human," he said kissing her nose and staring at her face. She opened her eyes and watched him, "I want to be human so it's right."

"So what is right?"

"Us being together," he said setting her down on the bed. He lay on top of her kissing her one more time then with a smile rolled next to her. "When I'm around you everything just seems so right."

"I love you too, Barricade," she said with a giggle and he smirked.

"I know," he said messing with her hair. He leaned over and kissed her forehead then stood to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked sitting up.

"To tell Optimus you will be accompanying us and to find out the plan so I can keep you as safe as possible. I will not allow any more scars to be added to your character under my optic."

* * *

_A/N: I have a present for you, but you have to let me know if you want it! I drew Lexa as she looks now. Scars and all, but you're just going to have to tell me if you want to see her or not. So send me a message or review :)_

_This chappie was kind of fun to write because Barricade has developed a guilty pleasure of watching human TV mainly movies and soap operas xD He's trying to learn all about the human race for Lexa and enjoying it waaay too much._

_I was going to put the mission in this chapter but I decided to give you these six pages (according to microsoft word) and then spend a good amount of time on the mission. Hopefully it will be as amazing as I keep imagining it to be._

_You guys cannot possibly know how happy I am to have your reviews! Thank you so so much!_

_To my reviewers:_

**_643cade: _**_I love your reviews they make me feel so good! x3 I have miss you glad you're back though! And when you get that tat you should totally show me it sounds amazing!_

**_ultimateanime12: _**_Thank you for reviewing again! Yeah, she atleast figured the language out. It takes me forever to write stuff in Spanish, because I cant speak it until I'm speaking to a native speaker... then they have to be patient and go extra slow for me... if they do that then I can beast at the language lol XD_

**_Primesbaby007:_**_ Thanks!_

**_AutobotJena:_**_ Yup, blank panther! They are sooo pretty and yet utterly terrifying at the same time!_

**_EverlastingLife:_**_ Thanks!_

**_Londongirl007: _**_Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one too!_

**_If you don't like a chapter, let me know why please! That way I can continue to write to the best of my abilities. No need to be mean, just a simple critique will do._**

_Oh yes, that stupid **disclaimer** that I _must _do... I don't own transformers, only Alexandra Raine. This is merely fan based and something I write for fun._


	12. This Again, Really?

**Chapter 12: This Again, Really?**

Lexa stepped out of Barricade as the other soldiers exited their vehicles. She took the lead as they walked into town; her hand resting on her handgun. The piece was beautifully crafted and was hardly known about by the public until 1971 when Clint Eastwood starred in Dirty Harry, one of Lexa's childhood favorites. Suddenly she felt the irony of her choice gun as she stared at the ghost of a town. Tumbled weed rolled across the abandoned main street – if you could call it that for it was just a dirt road – and Lexa looked to Will Lennox who motioned for her to fall back with him. Something about the silence was alarming. It didn't take long for them to search the entire town and on the second search Lexa stepped into a saloon. Its doors were still attached to the hinges, but as she pushed them, they swung open with a scream. She stepped into the saloon and looked around. She moved to a table in a dark corner that faced the door. After determining the table and chair were sturdy enough to hold all of her weight, she sat comfortably on the chair with her feet propped up on the table.

She looked around imagining what the place was like when the town was booming. She created characters in her mind as if she were in an old western. The old piano had a man sitting at the stool speaking with a man who was requesting a song. At the counter was a barmaid with too much cleavage showing; she was speaking with a man who with she was more so flirting. A few 'Cats' were sitting around on various laps of drunken men. At the table opposite of her was four men playing poker and the one closest to her was cheating.

She pulled out her gun preparing for a bar fight to break out until she remembered this was all in her mind. She let the illusion go for a few more moments until the doors at the opening of the bar screamed open. The people disappeared and her illusion faded. She quickly looked to the door and held her gun, prepared to shoot the intruder.

"We were too early," Barricade's holoform spoke as he walked into the bar. He looked around confused for a moment when he saw Lexa in the corner propped up against the table chair and wall. She was putting her gun away and he smiled at her. "Good to see you are quick to draw, however, they left seeing we were here much too early."

"So we failed," she said standing and beginning to walk to the door.

"It was not a failure; there wasn't any contact so no one was injured. I wish for this to happen every time if it prevents you from being injured or taken from me," he spoke with a sincere smile. She smiled back to him but paused as she heard a noise from the back of the bar.

"Lexa, let's go!" Lennox yelled from outside and Lexa walked towards the saloon door which Barricade was holding for her. Barricade wasn't watching her when the shot rang out and Lexa let out with a shriek. The wood on the unopened door exploded as something hit it and Barricade noticed the trajectory was from behind Lexa. He stared at her as she looked at her hand in shock. Blood covered it and she touched her shoulder again holding the wound tightly. Behind her Starscream smiled as his holoform flickered and he grabbed her. Barricade ran after them, but was not quick enough to stop Starscream before he threw Lexa to Megatron.

"Alexandra!" Barricade yelled as he felt his holoform fade and take over his true body. He lunged at Megatron but missed and Bumble Bee shot at Megatron and Starscream, successfully hitting Starscream making the Decepticon unable to fly. Megatron laughed as he flew away with Lexa.

"Alexandra, no," Barricade whispered sadly as he watched Megatron. Bumble Bee scoffed at the Ex-Decepticon and walked over to Starscream. Brutally, Bumble Bee stepped on Starscream's injured wing and pulled his head up. Starscream, unaccustomed to the pain he was encountering, screamed and threw Cybertronian slurs at the smaller Autobot.

"Where did he take her," Bee asked calmly and the Autobots watched the Scout's sudden anger ignite.

"I don't know," Starscream lied.

"Wrong answer," Bee said and dug into Starscream's wing with his heel.

"I'll never tell you!" Starscream yelled out in pain.

"We'll see," said Bee as he release his grip and Starscream's head fell to the ground, "I'll let you guys take care of him on the way back." Ironhide walked over and grabbed the Decepticon who was wheezing in pain. With Ratchet's help, Ironhide shoved Starscream into a cargo plane, which promptly took off with a few of the N.E.S.T. soldiers. Lennox stayed back as he tried to comfort the Saleen Mustang.

"Barricade it's not your fault, none of us detected them," Will said and Bee walked up.

"Lennox, may I have a word with Barricade in private?" Bee asked and Will nodded walking away. Bumble Bee picked up Barricade and shoved him as hard as the smaller Autobot could.

"This _is_ your fault," Bee said as Barricade slowly stood up. Bee walked up and shoved Barricade. "Slaggin' idiot!" Bee growled at him.

"I know it's my fault," said Barricade. He let her go on the mission after all.

"Do you realize Megatron could kill her?"

"Yes."

"And what? You don't care? Is that why you're still moping that she was taken?"

"No I only wish for her to be safe!" Barricade defended himself.

"I'm having a hard time believing you!" Bee growled at him, "This is the second time you've sworn to protect her and failed. She doesn't disserve you! You let her be seriously injured then you lie to her, the only person who trusted you with their life, then you let Megatron have her. Good way to prove her safety is the sole intent of your purpose."

"It is," Barricade whispered as Bee's words sank in.

"Prove it then," Bee said coming up with the best idea he ever had.

"How?"

"Help us find her," Bee said, "and when we do, leave. Leave and do not look back. She will be happier without you in her life."

"Who will protect her?"

"That won't be any of your concern," Bee said and watched as Barricade looked away.

"Bumble Bee," he said finally, "before all of this you were my best friend. As that, do you really think me leaving her will be better for her?"

"Yes," Bee said, his resolve fading with the emotional side that Barricade was showing.

"Do you think she will be sad," he asked.

"Yes," Bee sighed, "but humans are a curious thing. Take Sam for example. Mikaela was his world and when she left him, he was crushed. However, he moved on. He's talking to a new girl, Carly, and tonight he is planning on asking her out. Their hearts break, but they know how to piece it back together and live on."

"Then I will leave her," Barricade said standing, "If it is for her good."

"Then let's get searching for her," Bee said patting his old friend on the back, his malicious intent almost gone. Perhaps Barricade and Bee could possibly be friends again. Bee shrugged the thought away as they transformed and drove off.

A weak and disgusting being; that was what Megatron thought of humans as a whole. This tiny being sitting before him, however, was magnificent. She held great potential and Megatron was developing plans for her. Something in her DNA made her the perfect match for Cybertronians. The small weasel like doctor experimented on her sleeping form and muttered in Cybertronian about the pains of working for Megatron. Megatron ignored the insults so long as the doctor did nothing to wake the girl.

"She is an exquisite specimen for the lowly species," said the small doctor once he was done with the girl, "Barricade chose well in finding her as his mate."

"He did not choose her," Megatron said staring at the girl, "I sent him after her upon rediscovering her signature."

"Mi'Lord?"

"Silence. You are waking her," Megatron growled, "leave." The doctor nodded and left as Lexa began to stir. She woke up fully and grabbed her shoulder, which last she knew was bleeding, but there was nothing so much as a scar.

"You are awake," Megatron grumbled at her and she stared at him silently. He backed his mechanical body to the door and sat in front of it. A man appeared in front of her in his mid- thirties. His body was well toned and he wore classy black pinstripe pants with a white shirt and black pinstripe vest. He was a dark olive obviously supposed to be of Italian decent. His eyes were dark chocolate, just the same color as his slicked back hair. He began rolling up his sleeves past his elbow showing off his strong physique as he smirked down at Lexa.

Lexa stood as she looked over him. He was trying to scare her and as much as she wanted to ignore her feelings, he was very much successful. There was no where she could run, she noticed as she looked around the giant area.

"Alexandra, darling, why so frantic?" Megatron asked and his voice was even more terrifying without the metallic coo to it. Lexa didn't like how her name sounded coming from him. It was as if he was trying to convince her of something, but what she didn't know. This Decepticon was not familiar to her but due to his authorative tone and she assumed he was Megatron. He took a step toward her.

"What do you want with me," she said finally and she noticed she sounded stronger than she was. Suddenly she wished she was a Ninja then she could easily get out of any situation, but since she wasn't she took a step back.

"Did you know I was the one to send Barricade after you? He was supposed to bring you to me years ago when he first arrived here, but failed. Do you know why?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He failed because he was too scared to touch you," he said.

"Barricade isn't scared of anything," she said defiantly.

"Not before you. He was scared to touch you because he knew you were different from the other pathetic humans on this planet and when he finally did touch you, he was scared to let you go. Since you came along, he has become a terrified little bot. Thank you for convincing him to leave us. If he came back it would have been difficult to keep him away from you."

"You're wrong, Barricade is strong! He knows I will be okay," Lexa said. She didn't want to believe her pillar of strength was scared because of her.

"You know what has surprised me though, is the reaction of the Autobot to the challenge of Barricade," Megatron said. Up until that point Lexa and Megatron had played cat and mouse him stepping toward her as she stepped away, but now her back was against the wall and all she could do was watch him come closer.

"Bumble Bee?" she asked and Megatron nodded.

"Bumble Bee has fought quite hard for your attention, and yet you hold Barricade on such a high pedestal you have never realized it. That Autobot would do anything to protect you from anything that could harm you, but you have kept Barricade shielding you and yet here he is again… unsuccessful."

"Don't say that," she said, "it wasn't his fault you guys took me!"

"Do you remember when we took you?" Megatron said placing his arms on the walls next to her, "Remember how it was Bumble Bee who shot at Starscream and I? It was Bumble Bee who shot down Starscream, and it is Bumble Bee who is searching for you while Barricade weeps for you. You made Barricade weak and I couldn't be happier. I knew it was a matter of time before he fell through as my main Scout. You can only be the best for so long."

"Stop," she said as he towered over her. "Y-You should stop before Barricade comes in and kills you." Megatron turned towards the door for a moment then turned back to her with a sinister smile.

"He isn't coming Alexandra. Did you know when Starscream held you captive and Bumble Bee came to help, Bee over powered Starscream. Barricade never could do that."

"Why are you telling me this," Lexa whispered looking away.

"Because I would hate to see that pretty face disappointed that Bumble Bee is the one crashing through the door instead of the failure you think is your knight in shining armor," he said moving his lips closer to her neck.

"I thought Decepticon's hated all humans," Lexa said leaning as far away from his face as possible.

"There is something oddly exotic that draws us to _you_ regardless of your species," he said as his lips landed on her neck and he left kisses near her jaw line right under her scars. Distracted by the softness of her skin Lexa pushed Megatron with all of her strength and ran as far away from his holoform and metal body as possible.

"Come back here!" he growled and she heard him chasing after her in his robotic form. She turned immediately and ran through his legs towards the door. She reached it and began tugging on the door. Hearing Megatron's laughter caused her mind to whir and she began kicking the door as hard as possible knocking down the small door on the second kick. She ran out through the broken door and searched as she ran. There were thick trees ahead, if she could make it there, she could get away. She heard Megatron burst through the walls of the building behind her and felt as some debris hit her back. She almost lost her balance more than once, but managed to keep running. She couldn't be caught. She wouldn't. Oh where was Barricade or Bumble Bee when she needed them? Even the twins? At the very least they would be a good distraction.

Her legs were tired as she ran, they were screaming in pain not used to the distance and speed she was going. She didn't have that much farther to go, but Megatron was catching up. With a scream as her final amount of energy she pushed herself as fast as she could and made it to the wooded area, only stopping when she could no longer hear Megatron's footsteps following her. She cried taking deep breaths as she sat against a tree. She knew Barricade couldn't always be there for her, but she needed him so bad. Megatron had been successful in planting doubts in her mind, even as she tried to resist.

If Bee managed to find her first, she didn't know what she would do. Lexa suddenly fell into a slight depression as she realized Bumble Bee had stepped up to the plate as her protector and she just pushed him aside. Soon she fell asleep and didn't wake up until the sun was coming up the next morning.

Upon waking up again Lexa stretched her sore muscles and began walking away from the building Megatron had taken her to. She grabbed into her pocket and pulled out the phone Ironhide gave her and flipped it open. The screen was smashed and she couldn't make anything out. Not sure if the phone was on or not, she pulled the battery out then replaced it and turned her phone on. After a few moments she pressed and held down the number three on the keypad and it began dialing only for the call to fail. She tried a few more times then gave up deciding she needed to head closer to a town… maybe her phone just wasn't picking up a signal.

Bumble Bee let Ironhide torture Starscream, but he watched from another room. It only took Starscream eighteen human hours (torture combined with the promise of freedom) to confess the whereabouts for the Earth Decepticon base. Bumble Bee, Ironhide, Ratchet and Optimus wasted no time, leaving without Barricade and heading towards the Rocky Mountains.

For the fifth time in the hour Lexa held up her phone and tried to contact the Autobots and once again the phone jingled saying it could not complete the calls. Lexa moaned in dissatisfaction and held her phone tightly as she pretended to throw it. Any of the Autobots could show up at any moment now… she was starting to get really hungry. In the Amazon she had her blade to help her kill anything, but Megatron must have taken both her blade and gun for they were missing. How on Earth did the ancient humans make their own weapons without any tools?

Unsure how much longer she would be stuck in this forest, Lexa grabbed a decent sized stick and began using the rocks in the ground to sharpen an end.

"After this I'm moving to some super urban city and never leaving… I never want to go camping again," she muttered to herself as she worked diligently on her hopefully soon-to-be weapon.

"Megatron!" Bumble Bee yelled as he burst into the old hangar that Starscream told them about, "Tell me where Alexandra is and I _might _not kill you today." Megatron laughed from the hole in the building.

"You've just missed her Autobot," he sneered, "She's just been disposed of."

"Liar!" Bee growled running and lunging at Megatron. Megatron turned into an alien aircraft and began to fly away. Slowly he circled back and hovered near Bumble Bee.

"If you don't believe me Autobot, you better hurry and find her. If she's still alive, she'll be getting hungry and thirsty and there is no easily accessible water for _miles_." With that he flew off.

"_COWARD_!" Bumble Bee yelled as Megatron flew away. Bumble Bee took a shot which grazed Megatron's wing, but the Decepticon continued flying away. Bee cursed in Cybertronian and began scanning the immediate area for Lexa. After the fourth scan, Bumble Bee found a human signature almost seven miles away. Immediately, Bee ran in that direction, destroying the woods. What he didn't notice was the other signature there, one he was familiar with, had he paid enough attention so see it.

Lexa groaned as she continued walking; not a single freaking animal crossed her path. Trees, that was the surrounding area and she couldn't tell one tree from another; for all she knew she was walking in circles. She paused, however, as the woods in front of her moved. Could Megatron make his holoform appear this far away? Lexa hoped not. She hid behind a tree, her sharpened stick in hand and watched as a familiar male figure walked by. The toned body, short black hair, rusty red eyes; she almost screamed in glee.

"Barricade! It's you!" she said coming out from behind the tree. He turned to her and relief encompassed his features. She jumped on him, embracing him in a hug and he did the same. He was just the person she needed as the doubts raced from her mind.

"You are safe," he said, "I'm glad. I was afraid Megatron would harm you."

"He may have wanted to," she said still holding to him tightly, "but I ran away from him first."

"You escaped?"

"I don't believe it either, but yeah!"

"From now on you're going on high security," he said then he pulled away from her with a sad smile, "I've got to take you back to Bee."

"Why?" she asked, "I'm with you I'm safe."

"Because, Lexa, he'll protect you better than I will. I can always find you, but Bee will never let anyone take you," he said, "I love you Lexa. I can't allow Megatron to take you again and something happen where you're hurt. Under my watch you've been taken several times. Bumble Bee – as much as he annoys me – will die for you."

"And you won't?" she asked suddenly confused and he stared at her. That didn't come out the way he wanted…

"No, I mean yes! I'd die for you, but I'm a failure at protecting you-"

"Barricade?" she interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"What?"

"Shut up!" she grumbled, "It isn't your fault I've been taken _twice_, so quit blaming yourself! What happened to the cocky Barricade I met months ago? Like now, you used to get excited when I got mad because it was so uncommon, but now you're so involved in self pity… What happened to you?"

"But my carelessness could cause your death," he said sadly and she crossed her arms glaring at him.

"This is ridiculous. You are so human. 'Love changes people-' beh. A person only changes if they want to and whatever this is that you've changed into sucks. I want the guy who told me to (she held her fingers up in quotations as she quoted him) 'date a cop' the first night I met him."

"But-"

"Okay," she interrupted him, "when you're willing to listen to what I just said let me know, I'll repeat it for you, but obviously you don't want to listen right now so I'm going to go find someone else for a ride home."

"No need to go looking, I'm right here," Bee said standing above her in his true form. He knelt down and offered his hand for her to step into. She accepted and glanced back at Barricade as they walked away.

"How did he find me before you did?"

"He knows your signature better than I do," Bee grumbled, "I didn't even know he was searching for you."

Barricade let his holoform fade away and felt himself withdrawing into his robotic form. He watched the argument again and realized she was right. Of course he couldn't protect her; he was as pathetic as a hatchling without Energon. Growling at himself he set his sights for someone he owed a visit. He would free Starscream, who cared about the Autobots anymore; he'd be on his own side. After he freed Starscream, he'd follow him to their new base and pay Megatron a visit. Forcing himself not to use his holoform, Barricade let his sirens come to life and he sped off. She wanted the old Barricade back, she'd get him.

He would stay away from her for a while, just like Bumble Bee suggested, but he would take the time to find himself again. He loved _his_ human partner, she wanted _him_, not the Cybertronian the Autobots wanted him to be, but who he was programmed to be. _His _human. His _femme._ Looking back over the past couple of months Barricade growled. He had slowly become a 'wimp' as the humans put it and the wimpiness suddenly came out full blast. Barricade focused on Bumble Bee's words and realized something, _he planned it. Damn that Autobot! _Well, that was about to change. He had killed for her once and he sure as hell was itching to kill someone again. For her of course; _everything_ was for her.

When would he be back? He had no idea, but she would be safe with the Autobot until then. She would be okay with it too, because they weren't talking. Barricade remembered a human saying as he entered the Autobot base. _Absence makes the heart grow fonder._

That thought in mind he transformed and walked towards Starscream's holding cell. Taking only a nanosecond to confirm his decision, Barricade began helping Starscream escape; for _her_.

* * *

_A/N: Wow its been much too long, I'm sorry. School starting back up kicked my ass. Comp two I've already had a 6 page paper in. That definately put a dent in the plans on releasing this chapter. and crap I had this so planned out to be a kick ass (I keep wanting to call it an episode) chapter, but when I sat down to write it, it just didnt flow right. I rewote this one a couple times and I feel this one was the best. So here's my promise to you guys, I WILL have a kick ass chapter, where everyone is all WACHA! and stuff :3_

_I'm getting a puppy, too. So (since my parents are lazy and dont clean in attempt to make the other clean more) I have the whole house to clean! Oh and I was a friggen spoiled only child with a mother who was a compulsive buyer so my room if finally clean since I moved into this room/house probably nine years ago. I know ridiculous, but it was just.. agh! I think its the reason I have OCD now, because I got tired of all the mess so everything has to be perfect (and by the way its almost impossible because lets face it, as a Fine Arts major in college, there are way to many mediums to be perfect!)_

_I promised you a picture of Lexa and by the way when I was going through the chapters I realized I DID NOT describe her until like chapter five, which is ridiculous so ontop of everything else I'm rewritting those chapters. I dont have enough on my plate as it is so why not -;;;;;_

**_To my Reviewers:_**

_**Autobotally45**: Thank you and hopefully the link will work :)_

_**643cade**: This is the most nervous I have been releasing a chapter, I have a lot of personality things going on and I was trying to start emphasizing how different Lexa is from other humans but I'm afraid to see this one. You aren't interested in basically betaing for me are you? I'm sooooo nervous about this one, I almost didn't publish it. But i noticed a few of the characters were getting OOC so I thought maybe this chappie would fix it. :/ Lemme know cos if its bad I'll just rework the other chappies and trash this one. (well not completely but probably lose a couple pages of it.)_

_**ultimateanime12**: Keep up with the Spanish, I'm going to restart it here in a year or two, but I still get a ton of people here in the midwest when I'm checking out customers at work that dont speak a lick of English. Then i have to struggle my way through helping them. Its something I wish I had better teachers with in high school. Bumble Bee is touchy about Cade so we can only imagine, but have you ever seen a volcano exploding? xD_

_**AutobotJena**: You make me so happy! I'm so glad you like my story! I'm so sorry it takes so long between updates sometimes, I'm just trying to make sure everything goes together well and your positive feedback helps tons! Jena, I'm converting you to a Decepticon Lover! lol_

**_By the way the photo wont work in here so I'm going to post a review with the link. Hopefully that will work :)_**


	13. Time of Our Lives, pt 1

Chapter 13: Time of Our Lives

Destruction: the act of destroying something; demolition; annihilation. When Lexa stepped into the base she called her home she did not expect all the destruction. She knew immediately who did it. Barricade was long gone, having taken Starscream with him. Lexa noticed the base looked horrible, covered in mutilated metal, crushed concrete and other debris. The only part of the base that appeared completely unharmed was her living quarters. She hated that her room was immaculate and clenched her fists in anger. Closing her door she left to help clean up some of the adjacent rooms. A few hours later, Lexa stopped outside her door and opened it slowly her unused hand was clenched, still angry at Barricade. She stepped into her room and saw a small piece of paper lying on her desk and walked over to it. She picked up the piece of paper and saw the small print on it:

"I once read a quote, 'Love means never having to say you're sorry,' by Eric Segal, an American writer… I'm not sorry for anything that happened, Alexandra. Everything always was, and always will be for you. You won't see me for a while, but I'll be watching – and protecting – you."

Lexa sighed, smiling softly. Why did he make feel so special? How did he make her smile when all she wanted was to be mad at him? She folded up the piece of paper and stuck it in her bra. She would need to keep it somewhere safe; she had a feeling that if any of the Autobots saw it, there would be hell to pay. She wouldn't tell anyone. Not even Bee… She looked out of her window and stared at Bumblebee as he helped in the outdoor cleanup effort. He was so right for her in so many ways, but why couldn't her heart believe that? In her head she knew Bee was the better choice, the one who was perfect and would always treat her like a princess, he was everything a girl hoped for. So why was it every time she looked at Bee, she immediately thought of Barricade? Her heart yearned from him even though he was not the better choice. If Barricade was willing to leave once, he would leave her again; yet another more reason why Bumblebee was better for her. As if he felt her eyes on him, Bumblebee looked to her and waved as he stood in his robot form. She smiled, waving back, and then exited her room.

"Hey," Bee said suddenly appearing next to her and she rolled her head to look at him; a lazy smile on her face.

"You know, I should be surprised with you appearing out of the blue, but you and Cade made me immune," she said and Bee laughed, ignoring her comment about Barricade.

"Can't surprise you, huh?"

"Not like that," she responded. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, then kissed her softly on the lips. She backed away from him, her eyes looking to the ground. She couldn't let him do it; she didn't want to lead him on, yet she wanted him by her side too. _Hell, why is this so hard!_

"Bee-"

"How about like that," he asked, interrupting her.

"Bee, stop," she said softly and he looked over her, worry creating a crease in his brow.

"What is it, Lexa?" he asked, and she shook her head backing away.

"Nothing, Bee," she stated, and began walking away. Suddenly he reappeared, standing in front of her.

"Lexa, please, talk to me," he begged and she stared up into his blue eyes; her resolve about telling no one began to melt away. On one hand Lexa wanted to talk to him, on the other hand, she knew it would crush him to hear it.

"It's Barricade, isn't it?" he asked, watching her as she looked up at him as if she was surprised then as her eyes began to tear up, she looked down the corners of her mouth falling into a frown and Bee saw she looked like she was about to cry, "Lexa, I love you, you know that right?" She nodded looking down. "Then you know what I want most is to see you happy, right?" She paused for a moment, took a deep breath and wiped away a tear that fell without her realizing it then slowly nodded again. "So please talk to me. I don't like seeing you like this." He watched and his eyebrow rose as she reached into her shirt and pulled out a piece of paper. She held it in both of her hands, staring at it.

"Bee, promise me you won't tell anyone about this," she said, "promise to me you'll keep a secret until I want people to know about this."

"What is it, Lexa?" his voice suddenly hardened, and he scowled down at the piece of paper.

"Bee, promise me?" she asked and looked up at him with tear stained cheeks. He wasn't sure anymore if he wanted to know what was bothering her. Something told him it had to do with Barricade. Barricade; everything came back to him. If Barricade went away and stayed away, Bee would have Lexa. Bee looked away for a moment then looked back at her hands holding the piece of paper and his eyes finally rested on her tear-stained face. As a few new silent tears fell from her eyes Bee sighed and wiped the tears away.

"I promise, Lex, I promise," he said and slowly she handed him the paper. He unfolded it as he watched her look around the hallway her focus anywhere but on him, and when the paper was open he looked down at it and read the letter. He scowled reading it and took her tears the wrong way.

"Are you scared?" he asked and she stared at him her mouth slightly agape.

"N-no," she said slowly and looking away, "I know he needs to do this for himself… I just… I feel like everything that has happened is my fault." Bee folded the paper and sighed at her. The one being she should be afraid of she wasn't.

"Lexa," he said lifting her chin so her face was directed at his, "No more tears. Things have happened because of you, it's true, but no one would wish it any other way… Except for you getting hurt, nobody wants you hurt." He chuckled trying to lighten the situation, but when she didn't respond he tried another tactic, "I didn't want you near Barricade. Do you want to know why?"

"You didn't like how he treated me," she said quickly, sure of the answer.

"No, he treated you fine," Bee said with a frown. He really didn't want to admit this, but knew it was time, "I didn't like how you treated him. You smiled at him, differently than you smiled at anyone else. You cared for him more than anyone else. You loved him more than anyone else. You loved him more than me…" Bee looked at her sadly. "I tried to stop it, Sam told me it wouldn't do any good, but I didn't want to listen."

"Bee," she said placing her hands on his arms and he looked at her face, "It looks like we've both lost to human emotions, let's just be us. Let's try and be happy that we have our friendship and see what happens from there okay? I'm not promising I will love you the way you want me to, but I can promise you I'll always love you as my best friend." He smiled and pulled her into a hug, he wasn't going to point out that it was because of her they were losing to human emotions. That would not help the situation and just tear her farther away from him. So he told her what he knew to be the truth.

"Lexa, you love me and no matter if it's as a friend or as more, that's important to me and I promise to always be there for you as your friend, as your guardian and as whatever else you wish of me. I will be okay, as long as you are happy."

That night for the first time in almost a year, Lexa and Bee sat on the hood of his body and watched the stars, talking about life and how things were going. The stars shone brightly in the deserted area, no lights to hinder their appearance. The cool breeze was relaxing and Lexa snuggled in next to Bee's warm holoform. Barricade was always at the front of her mind, but she never said anything to Bee about him, not wanting to disrupt the serene moment with Bee. The conversation died after a while, but the two remained laying on Bee's hood watching the stars, until Lexa drifted into a soft sleep.

Bee watched her for a long time after her eyes closed. She was so calm when she slept and he noticed how there was a smile on her face. Gently he pulled her onto his holoform body, giving her more of a pillow than the glass of his windshield. She stirred for a minute, moved to make herself comfortable then continued sleeping, her hand now on resting his abdomen. Slowly he began stroking her hair when the night sky caught his attention. Meteors flew across the sky creating their own spectacle of lights.

"Lexa, look," Bee said nudging her awake.

"What is it, Bee?" she asked drearily looking up at him and he pointed to the stars. As a bright meteor fell across the sky Lexa sat up and watched in awe. Out in the middle of nothing the shower was bright and looked as though large caliber shells were being shot through the air.

"I believe humans wish upon shooting stars like those," Bee whispered into her ear while holding onto her waist. "I know what I'm wishing for."

"I wish…" she started quietly and closed her eyes. _I wish this family was whole again; I wish Barricade was here._

"Think our wishes will come true?" Bee asked as Lexa opened her eyes.

"Wishes… Dreams… they _always_ come true if you believe in them," she said, "I think they'll come true, even if it takes a long time."

Lexa stared in the mirror at the giant white wedding dress wishing it was her in that situation, just as anyone woman yearning for her loved one would. Sam kept telling her if she didn't find a guy to marry soon she was going to die an old hag. 'You'll turn into one of those creepy cat lady's soon,' he recently told her, just after mentioning his proposal to Carly. With ever impending world destruction, the wedding was rushed and thanks to several people including Lexa almost everything was completed. The invitations had been sent and most had responses. The wedding dress was going through final alterations, along with the bride's women and groom's men outfits. Lexa, upon request of Sam, was the maid of honor and Bee was the best man. Upon Carly's request, Bee and Lexa had special outfits separate from the other men and women in the wedding.

Carly chose Lexa's dress and even Lexa had to admit it was beautiful. The dress was long and elegant yet sexy while avoiding Lexa's scars. The dress was a light blue and had slightly darker blue flowers on it. It was Chinese styled with a collar that went up Lexa's neck and sleeves that showed off Lexa's arms. There was a slit going up her left leg reaching her upper thigh and showing off an almost risqué amount of leg. Lexa had a pair of taupe pumps that she planned to wear with it on Carly and Sam's big day, giving her an additional few inches without distracting from the dress.

What Bee was wearing, well that had been decided by Sam and the two of them spent hours creating the outfit for Bee's holoform trying to make it just perfect, or so they told Carly and Lexa.

"Sam said Bee wants it to be perfect for a certain Maid of Honor," Carly said as she showed off her wedding dress, "and that's why they've spent so much time on it."

"Carly," Lexa said wanting the focus to be on the Bride and her dress not Lexa and Bee, but Carly kept going.

"Really, he loves you very much," she said continuing her train of thought, "and I know you love him so why don't you both get together."

"Carly we are together," Lexa said and it was true, in the year and a half since Barricade had disappeared from Lexa's life, Bee and her had become close again and started dating.

"No," Carly said, "you're together, but you're not 'together.'" She held her fingers up in quotes to accentuate her point.

"What, like married?" Lexa asked fixing a part of the dress that was rolled over.

"Exactly," Carly said staring at her in the mirror and Lexa stared back.

"Carly, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say," Lexa stated bluntly and went back to fixing the dress only to find there was nothing to fix, "It looks good to me, I think it's ready to be taken home." It wasn't until Carly changed back into her jeans and t-shirt and they were leaving with the dress in hand that Carly continued the conversation.

"Why is it ridiculous?" Carly asked and Lexa groaned. She hoped this conversation would fade away; apparently Carly wasn't going to allow that.

"Bee is a robot," Lexa whispered thinking of an excuse, "it won't work out."

"Why not?" Carly asked, stopping the two in the middle of the sidewalk. A few grumpy people walked around them muttering something about 'rude children' even though they were hardly children and Lexa began to mess with the thick leather bracelet on her wrist.

"It's Barricade, isn't it," Carly asked and Lexa's eyes flicked up to her immediately then away to Lexa's wrist. Carly sighed and began walking, "Barricade isn't coming back Lex, you know that deep down it's time to accept it and move on."

"I can't," Lexa said walking next to her friend and taking the dress from her, "because I know he _will_ come back. Barricade never once broke a promise to me. He tried to be someone who he wasn't for me. I'm not abandoning him now because he is who he is."

"He's a robot too, you know," she said but Lexa stayed silent, so Carly moved to what she thought was a less intrusive topic, "you ever gonna show any of us that tattoo you got on your wrist forever ago?"

"I wasn't planning on it," she said, "it's kind of personal."

"I want to see it," Carly said, "I won't tell a soul."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Carly said and they stopped as Lexa began to undo the bracelet. Carly gasped as she saw it, parts of it seeming to glow with an odd metallic sheen. Then Carly's phone began to ring.

Barricade knew he smiled as he watched Lexa take off the bracelet and felt his smirk grow as he read the words. His holoform appeared next to Lexa as Carly began to dig in her obscenely large purse for her phone, which was receiving a fake phone call via Barricade.

"I love it," he whispered and placed a gentle kiss on Lexa's cheek, then was gone before she even realized he was there. He watched from his car as she looked around, her cheeks flushed, then her eyes stopped on his body with a new dark blue paint job and she smiled.

"To punish and enslave," she mouthed to him the same words that were tattooed on her wrist, in the very spot he had put them so long ago.

Lexa put the bracelet back on her wrist thinking over the past few weeks. When the invitations to the wedding were sent out she sent an invite to her old friend, Tom, asking if he would be her 'plus one' at Sam and Carly's wedding, receiving an 'of course' response quickly. However, when Lexa called Tom the day before final alterations to set up a time to get together and discuss how things would work, he told her he never received the wedding invite, but was unable to go. As Lexa searched the crowd for Barricade and saw the blue mustang, she knew instantly he was the one who responded to the letter. Barricade _had_ been watching her as he promised and he would be the one coming to the wedding as her plus one. Lexa smiled as Carly threw her phone back in her purse muttering that she was sure she heard it ringing.

Carly, followed through with her promise and never spoke of Lexa's tattoo to anyone, only once mentioning to Lexa that Bee should never see it, which Lexa agreed to whole heartedly. Now Lexa was in the same predicament she was in months earlier. What to do about her relationships with Bee and Cade… The harder she thought about it the worse she felt, so Lexa decided to let things happen, how they happened.

The night before the wedding Lexa lay in her bed staring at her wrist, the words glowing with a slow pulse. No matter what Ratchet did, the words would never completely fade away so Lexa had them tattooed on. She did it soon after Barricade left with Starscream on his own mission. It was never the words she disliked; it was just the Decepticon symbol. The words were Barricade's and she was convinced he was on his own team, and by getting the words on her… It was her way of showing she was on his team, too. Looking up at the stars outside her window, Lexa smiled and thought of Barricade then drifted into a dreamless sleep anxiously awaiting the wedding the next day.

* * *

_A/N: So sorry for the long wait my friends. First of all I want to say thanks to **emberlotus** who beta'd this chapter for me and boosted my confidence._

_I plan on getting this story finished as soon as possible without making it rushed... otherwise I'm going to be a hiatus for an uncertain amount of time... I'm joining the Navy. _

_I was trying to think of something poetic for a meteor shower, but all I could come up with was gun shells. Then I thought Hey! She's part of NEST she can think that! lol.  
_

_Not a very action filled chapter, but I enjoyed writing it and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it too!_

**_Autobotally45:_**_ Thanks so much! I hope you like this one too!_

**_emberlotus:_**_Thanks so much for beta'ing this for me! Tried to add in more details and readjust counteracting ones. Hope this was better!_

**_ChocoKoko: _**_Thanks for pointing out my mistakes! Didn't even notice I was doing that! lol._

**_AutobotJena:_**_ Bee doesnt realize that making Barricade go away makes her suffer... Well, moreso he knows but tries to pretend thats not the case. And yay! Barricade cameo! lol_

**_kaaayyytteee: _**_Hiya! Thanks! I'm goign to be updating a lot more here soon I have a couple chapters partly written so the updats wont take so long :)_

**_Tora tsume chan:_**_ thankyouthankyouthankyou! :D I hope you liked this chapter too!_

_See all of you soon! And let me know what you think! :D_


	14. War and Bouquets

**OK so technically theres kind of a *scene* in the middle-ish area (I'll put stars in front and behind it to signify where). Seriously I've seen worse on TV in CSI, Law and Order, and even in the PG-13 movies these days... So I'm giving you a warning about it. It's not graphic so dont flip because I'm not changing the entire rating to Mature over one little section. **

Chapter 14: War and Bouquets

Lexa rubbed her weary eyes awake. She hated early mornings, and with her thoughts plagued with Barricade the night before she found it difficult to find sleep until it was early in the morning. Lexa groaned as the Dirge played on her cell phone, meaning Lennox was calling. Lennox calling meant there was a mission. A mission meant no more nice warm bed. Lexa groaned again as she put her head under a pillow momentarily then rolled to her cell phone. The phone call lasted only a few seconds while Lennox told her she needed to get up and the NEST team she was assigned to had to be halfway across the country in less than an hour.

Less than ten minutes later, Lexa sat on the plane next to Rider and Wingo, both looking nearly as tired as she did. Francis across the plane however was wide awake and rattling off facts about different video games he was playing before he received the call.

"That kid has way too much energy," Rider said leaning his head back against the plane wall. Lexa laughed quietly.

"Perhaps we just need more," she said and Wingo chuckled.

"Or the Deceptions just have no concept of time," Rider grumbled.

"They do, but their time is different from ours," Lexa said sitting up a little bit, "it's like dog years to us. Night and day don't mean much to them."

"That's crazy," said Rider looking over to Lexa.

"Not really," she said and he shook his head with a chuckle, "what?"

"It's crazy how casually you talk about them," he said, "it's like the transformers are something normal to you."

"It feels like it," she said with a laugh, "I've known them for a few years now, knowing who they truly are. I knew a few before I knew what they were though. I think that made accepting them easier. I knew I could trust them."

"Even that cop car?" Wingo asked curiously.

"Mhm," she said looking to Wingo, "even though he's with the Deceptions he's not _with_ them. He's still good."

"I find that hard to believe," said Rider with a tsk.

"Why?"

"I've seen the way he fights us," Rider said, "he tries to kill us." Lexa couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.

"If he wanted us dead, we would have died long ago. He's just biding his time," she said leaning against the wall.

"For what," Wingo asked looking from her to Rider.

"Something big," she said looking over at him with a smile, "we'll see when it happens."

One hour later, Lexa was standing next to Ironhide a military assault rifle in her hands and dressed in her NEST gear. Ironhide allowed his holoform to stand next to her and in even in his modern digital camo, he looked like Clint Eastwood in Kelly's Heroes with a half-chewed cigar sticking from his mouth and an annoyed smirk on his face.

"Wake up," he said and she smiled to him.

"Aw come on it was just _one_ yawn." She noticed as his face became screwy while he tried to stifle a laugh and ended up lifting a corner of his lips into a smile. For some reason, Lexa noticed, he liked to leave a 5 o'clock shadow on his holoform all the time and his blue eyes were dark and smokey. Even though the eyes weren't actually his Lexa saw the years on his features and how he held himself with aged honor.

"Why are we here Ironhide," she asked looking around for a sign of the Decepticon's.

"We had a Decepticon signature show up," he said walking, "and it's still here."

"Oh," she said keeping in step with him.

Lexa kept her eyes open waiting for something as she walked around the abandoned warehouse just off Hall Street in Saint Louis. Rice rockets raced in the background, but otherwise the silence was unnerving. A low hiss caught Lexa's attention and she gripped her gun tightly raising it to watch through the scope with one eye and watch where she was walking with the other. As she stepped closer to the noise she whispered to Ironhide.

"Do you hear that?" she asked. She stopped as there was no response. She couldn't hear footsteps either. Lexa glanced to her left where it seemed like just moments earlier Ironhide was standing. A glance to her right revealed the same thing and with the hissing noise just in front of her Lexa wondered if she should fall back or continue on. Taking a slow nearly silent breath Lexa moved forward, the gravel crunching beneath her boots. As she rounded the corner, prepared to shoot the hissing became louder. She sighed, a long sigh of relief and lowered her weapon as she saw a hissing boiler just inside the building. But why was a boiler on in an abandoned warehouse?

Lexa lifted her weapon just a moment too late as a blast erupted in front of her. It was a warning shot, she realized as she fell back from the shockwave; a bruised butt and a partly stunned mind was the only damage she received from the blast. She backed away scooting on her butt and quickly ran into something solid behind her. She looked up slowly, fear daring to show on her face. She stood up and ran from the foot of the robot and dug in her pockets for her radio, finding it on her left hip she began calling for backup, trying not to lose her balance as the robot chased after her.

"I need back up!" she yelled into the radio. A blast twenty or so feet in front of her knocked her off her feet and back towards the robot. As it leaned over her it chuckled darkly, its red eyes focusing on her only.

"What a prize I've found," he said still chuckling, "the human that has enamored half of the Decepticon and Autobot armies. What makes you so special little fleshling." Lexa noticed how close its face was and found her hand resting on her grenade. However he grabbed her and lifted her near his face, restricting her arms. As she struggled the talon like fingers ripped through her clothes and the Decepticon laughed.

"Resistance is futile," he said and maybe it was because she was stuck in a seemingly hopeless situation, but she couldn't help the laugh.

"I'm in the presence of the Borg," she said no longer struggling. She noticed as windshield wipers over the mech's eyes lifted as if he was staring at her in confusion. The staring was annoying her so she spoke, "what?"

"Are all humans as strange as you," he asked and his face got closer to her as if his large optics couldn't see her clearly unless he was only a few feet away.

"I like to think I'm a little bit different than most," she said gripping the grenade in her hand. The ring was around her finger, and soon she began to wonder if help would come or if she should just maneuver the pin out of the grenade and blow up the mechs hand… The prospect of the pain of death by grenade stopped her from thinking about it for a while.

"Set the human down, Crowbar," said a familiar voice behind her and the Decepticon holding her, Crowbar, loosened his grip on her. Lexa lifted her arms from his grip and held onto his hand, looking to the other Decepticon.

Barricade ignored her glares, but wondered why she was glaring at him. Now what had he done to anger his human? Other than a few cuts on her arm, she was fine. It was then that he noticed she was grasping something in her right hand. One thing he noticed after several times of fighting against the Autobots and the human team NEST was Lexa hated using pistols so immediately he ruled out a pistol as what she was gripping. It was much too small anyway. Barricade stole another glance and searched the internet to see what she was holding. He wasn't entirely prepared to find she was gripping a small explosive device. It was then that he noticed the ring was around her index finger and he realized she was waiting for something.

"Let the human go," he said looking to the fellow Decepticon.

"I don't think so," he said pulling her closer to his chest, "I think I'm going to keep this one. She seems to be valuable."

"Don't I have a say," she asked leaning on her left arm and hiding her grenade. She stared up at Crowbar and he stared back at her.

"Did you say something human," he asked annoyed.

"Yeah, I did," she said readjusting her body, "I asked if I had a say in what happened to me. I mean what if I want to go the Decepticon base and see Megatron again?"

"You what?" asked Crowbar pulling her closer to his face.

"Are you so blind that you can't see me unless I'm a few feet away?" she asked pulling the pin. As he pulled her away from his face to respond she chucked the grenade into his open mouth.

"What the," he asked only to stop as the grenade blew up in his mouth. Part of his face seemed to disintegrate from the blast and he threw Lexa from his hand. Barricade caught her as gently as he could and set her down near her gun. She grabbed her gun while she ran for the corner of the building with a pissed off Crowbar chasing after her.

"Shit, shit, shit," she repeated and ran around the corner, past Lennox and into Epps arms. Not realizing who she was with she screamed in shock as she was grabbed and Epps covered her mouth with his hand. She moved his hand and smiled.

"Sorry," she said, "we need to get out of here though he was just right around the corner."

"I've got this," Ironhide said drawing his cannons and rounding the corner. There were a few blasts then two cop cars took off, one mustang the other an unmarked SUV. Ironhide shot after them and Optimus joined Lexa, Lennox Epps and Ironhide with his team.

"That was a new Decepticon," said Ironhide speaking with Optimus, "I've never seen him before."

"Optimus, Ironhide," Lexa yelled up to the two and they summoned their holoforms next to her.

"Yes, Alexandra," Optimus asked.

"Crowbar," she said, "that was what Barricade called him when Barricade told him to put me down."

"Crowbar?" Optimus repeated and Lexa nodded. Optimus nodded to Ironhide and the two led Lexa away from the other humans just out of earshot.

"Things are grave if that was truly Crowbar," Optimus said quietly, "you must keep this information quiet for now, Alexandra."

"Okay," she said and they turned away from her, but she called after Optimus before his holoform disappeared, "How bad is it?"

"I am unsure of what you mean," he said watching her.

"Are we losing the war?"

"Against?"

"Optimus, please, you are far more intelligent then you're acting. The war against the Decepticon's. Are we losing?"

"Not yet," he said slowly, "but the one they call Crowbar is a part of the Decepticon Dread and it will complicate things greatly if all of the Dread are on Earth." Lexa sighed.

"As long as they bleed, they can be killed," she stated.

"And bleed they do," Optimus said patting her back, "I fear the war will get worse before it gets better though."

"Gee, how did I know that was going to be the case," Lexa said gloomily.

"Alexandra, cheer up," Optimus said finally, "today will be a day of celebration. The war can wait until tomorrow."

"War waits for no one, Optimus," she said with a sigh, "I hope there is no more action today though."

Lexa was standing next to Bee while talking to Francis, the kid still going on about his new high score in some first person shooter video game. The dark haired boy was excited talking exuberantly with his hands. Lexa smiled softly to him constantly and Bee noticed her green eyes meeting his soft blue ones often. She was stunning in the dress and as he watched the way Francis reacted to her, Bee felt the emotional jab in his spark. Sam told him it was jealousy and Bee couldn't help but know Sam was right. Bee surprised himself by slipping his arm around Lexa's waist. She glanced at him with a smile and raised eyebrow. He smiled back sadly. She had broken up with him that morning, telling him she couldn't keep doing this to him. While Barricade was around she wouldn't be able to love him fully.

It hurt to hear that come from her and he wondered what caused her to do it, until he discovered what happened on the early morning mission. It angered him that she was separated from the entire team at one point and time and he was mad that Optimus told him he wasn't needed. Hadn't Optimus discovered a long time ago that whenever they detected Decepticon's every man, woman, and Autobot needed to be there just in case? She told Bee for the wedding they could pretend they were together so not to dampen Sam and Carly's day. He agreed, but it wasn't for Sam or Carly. He agreed so he could remain close to her.

When Barricade walked through the chapel doors an hour before the wedding disguised as Tom – Lexa's friend from years ago – Bee was tempted to start a fight, but clung to Lexa protectively. Bee knew the best way to agitate Barricade and bring out who he actually was would be to lean on Lexa and touch her which meant using her. Bumblebee sighed in defeat. Using Lexa was the last thing he wanted. So instead of picking a fight, Bee excused himself from the conversation the NEST team was having and walked up to Barricade stating he knew who _Tom_ was. They walked outside into the privacy of the church's alleyway and Bee began talking immediately to be interrupted by Barricade turning into his 'normal' holoform self and speaking over the younger Autobot.

"I'm here for Lexa," Barricade stated catching the Autobot off guard, "I'm not here to start a fight with you or any of the other Autobot's. I am here to see her and spend some time with her. If you try to stop me I will have to kill you, and I'd really hate to put a dampener on Sam's wedding; I kind of liked him."

"One step out of line," Bee began to warn but Barricade nodded.

"I understand," he said and transformed back into 'Tom' and began to walk back into the church, "Oh and Bumblebee, (he paused in the doorway looking back at Bee) back off. If I see you touching her one more time the way you did when you first saw me, I will dismember you and let your spark fade away slowly and painfully." Bee watched from the doorway as Barricade walked up behind Lexa and held her intimately. Francis's face fell as she turned quickly in his arms then smiled and jumped on him, giving him a hug. Bee watched in dismay and felt his spark threaten to break apart.

After the wedding the party moved to a Dining Hall where everyone ate dinner except for a few mechanical guests. It was here that Carly wanted to finish all the usual ceremonies in weddings, such as the groom getting the Bride's garter and the bride throwing her bouquet. When Sam had thrown the garter Bee watched without care as Barricade caught it. When Carly threw her bouquet behind her, however, Bee watched in horror. He knew from Lexa's flushed face she had not meant to catch it and she quickly passed it off to the girl next to her, but Barricade's face… Bee knew he was privy to the human customs as soon as he saw Barricade's grin.

To ease the awkwardness of the situation Carly decided it was time to strike up the DJ and get everyone dancing. The first song was a slow song with a country twang and Bee looked it up seeing it was 'Amazed' by Lonestar. The next song that Lexa and Bee danced to was 'I Would Do Anything for Love' by Meatloaf. Bee especially disliked the lyrics, "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that… Nooo, no oh I won't do that." He was even more infuriated a few songs later when Lexa and Barricade danced together to 'Forever and Ever, Amen' by Randy Travis. Bee's day went from bad to worse at the end of the night, when Barricade announced (under the guise of Tom) that he would take Lexa home for the night, since she drank more than she should have. Bee knew it was untrue. Lexa was scared of alcohol, but as he began to protest, Optimus scolded him and told him to let her go.

"It's Barricade," Bee whispered to Optimus angrily.

"I know," he said tipping his cowboy hat at the two as they left.

"But, Optimus," he hissed and Optimus's blue eyes landed on the distressed 'Bot.

"She will be fine," he said with a southern drawl, "We have kept her from him for a long time, Bee. He has entrusted us with her life which he does not do. Let us trust him for now. We will be able to find her if we need to."

Bee sighed in defeat and walked out onto the balcony looking up at the stars. Lexa was with Barricade now and Bee had very few ways of finding her if Barricade decided to keep her. Hopefully, she would keep the cell phone he gave her on and could be tracked down easily. Bee was suddenly glad she was in Barricade's care, if not in his own. At least the slaggin' 'Con would do anything for her.

"Cade," she whispered sitting next to 'Tom' and he looked over with a smirk. Slowly he changed into himself and she lunged across the car holding him tightly. Tears fell from her eyes as she snuggled into his neck, "I've missed you so much." His breath hitched in his throat and he began patting her hair, taking her in. She smelled of vanilla and her skin felt like silk, the scars that adorned her body (and there were several more than he remembered) felt like ripples on an imperfectly made bed, yet her skin was warm and inviting. Her hair was soft, smooth, and much longer than the last time he was with her. The best part was she was his, allowing herself to be claimed by him with her tattoo.

"I have missed you too, Alexandra," he said his voice became husky as desire filled him, "And I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?" she asked as she readjusted herself on his lap.

"If I tell you it will not be a surprise. Now close your eyes and I will wake you when we get there," he said and kissed her forehead her green eyes staring up at him with vibrant curiosity.

"Close them," he said with a smirk_._ Slowly she snuggled into him then closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep quickly. He groaned at how he loved when she touched him. She made him weak, but in a strange way she also made him stronger. If she was ever in trouble he would save her; he would do anything to protect her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him as his car form drove easily down the road.

"Lexa," she heard her name called from a familiar voice, "wake up." She opened her eyes to stare up at Barricade, a smile gracing her lips.

"I missed you," she restated and he smiled to her.

"As did I," he said leaning over her and planting a kiss on her lips. As she kissed him back she realized she was laying on something soft and she stopped kissing him to look around. She was in a large light blue bedroom with a beautiful view of a large body of water. She looked in the opposite direction and noticed a large bathroom and just past it was a giant walk in closet.

"Cade, who's house are we in?" she asked looking around and didn't look back at him till he chuckled deep in his chest.

"Yours Lexa," he said and she looked up at him in shock.

"How," she began and his kissed her lips.

"I bought it for you," he said quietly.

"Are you staying?" she asked and he kissed her again then his kisses began to travel down her neck, pausing only to whisper.

"We'll talk about it in the morning," he said then continued kissing her, sucking gently on her collar bone.

"Cade," she moaned. He smirked and his kisses began to travel once more first to her breasts then to her navel. She gripped the sheets, with-holding a moan as he kissed her neck once again and placed himself between her legs, rubbing her sides with his hands.

"C-Cade," she muttered with a full thought passing through her mind, "where are my clothes?"

"On the floor," he said huskily pressing his body against hers, and she noticed his clothes were gone too, "next to mine."

"B-Barricade," she moaned as he began to massage her hips in his hands.

"Hm?" he asked sucking on her color bone leave little purple bruises.

"I love you," she said and he paused leaning over her, his face just above hers.

"I love you too."

The birds whistled outside the window waking Lexa early. Her body felt slow and sluggish, tired still from her night with Barricade and her cheeks flushed remembering it. It was about that moment when she realized his body was pressed up against hers and Barricade was breathing slowly. She turned to look back at him to find his eyes closed and she smiled placing a kiss on his nose then slowly slipped from the bed.

"Where are you going," he asked and she jumped looking back to the bed.

"Just to take a shower," she said with a smile, "did you want to join me?"

"Yes," he said stretching, "but if I do we will never leave this room. I have to return you to the Autobots you know."

"Oh," she said sadly and walked into the bathroom and took her shower. He joined her with a large towel in hand as she finished her shower and she took the towel gratefully.

"You are beautiful," he said and she noticed his clothes were on.

"My scars," she said. She looked away from him trying to convince herself he was wrong, but she couldn't help but feel beautiful around him.

"They add to who you are," he said, then dug in his pocket and slipped a ring onto her finger, "and you are mine until I no longer exist." She looked down at the ring which had a large strange rock on it and two sapphires on the sides. The rock in the center kept her attention and she watched as it seemed to pulse with a beat similar to a heart.

"Energon," he said, "The most precious material to my kind. It's our life source."

"It feels so," she began to search for the word, "right." And it was the truth it felt normal to have it pulsing on her skin.

"One day, all that will matter to me is you," he said, "and I will take you away from here. We will go off on our own and live out your life just the two of us. It will be perfect."

"Barricade," she said looking up at him and kissing his cheek then she whispered in his ear, "just say when."

"Soon," he grumbled and held her close breathing in deeply. "Since I have met you I have wished to be human more times than I can count."

"I love you for you, Barricade," she said tracing circles on his chest, "human or not, don't forget that."

As Lexa dressed herself she wondered what the future would bring, and slowly her mind drifted back to the events if the day before. Optimus' answer to her question of their position in the war was alarming. Were they winning or losing? And with the Dreads here, did that mean they would surely be defeated? Lexa exited the room and walked into the kitchen where Barricade was cooking her breakfast.

"What is on your mind Alexandra?" he asked and her name rolled off his tongue so perfectly she couldn't help but smile and look to him.

"I was just thinking," she said taking a hand and pushing it through her still damp hair. He watched her then turned back to the food. As it finished cooking he set it on a plate and placed it in front of her.

"The Dreads are the Decepticon Special Forces team," Cade stated as she began to eat. She looked at him curiously and he knew she wanted him to continue, "Crowbar is known for being able to hack or break into anything. Like a human crowbar he gets into whatever he wants to. You must be careful Lexa, he _will_ be actively hunting you now that you have destroyed so much of his face and proved to be a challenge to him."

"Yeah, I figured," she said after chewing on some bacon, "I mean a grenade in the mouth would kind of piss me off too. Will you be okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't he see you catch me and set me down," she asked and he sighed.

"I will be fine," he said. The truth was he didn't know if Crowbar saw his actions or not. Barricade would find out soon enough though. Once they reached the Decepticon base, Crowbar was forced into sleep cycle by the Doctor, who was going to fix as much of Crowbars face as he could. Crowbar, however, would soon be waking from his forced sleep. Lexa saw the thoughtful look on Barricade's face and touched his cheek. His eyes darted to her quickly and she softly smiled.

"If you're in trouble, promise me you'll just run?" she asked and he frowned.

"It would be like admitting defeat."

"Isn't it better to retreat and lose one battle than dying before it is over because you would not run?" Barricade looked to her across the table and sighed.

"When did our conversations turn to life or death war strategies?"

"When I realized the cruelties of war with an enemy that seemed indestructible," she stated, "Optimus won't admit it to us, but after meeting Crowbar yesterday I know he is worried we are on the losing side. He doesn't want us to live in fear, so he hides it from us, but I can tell something is troubling him and that is the most logical reason why."

"You have become very intuitive," he said solemnly not sure if it was good or bad.

"Attentive," she corrected, "I know what reactions to look for in Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide and Bee. My team thinks I'm too close and it's bad that I can read the emotions of the Transformers. I've found it helpful on most occasions." As she trailed off Barricade remained silent. He was avoiding the question he knew she would be asking, but had no idea how to redirect the conversation subtly.

"So we are losing then," she asked, but it was really more of a statement than a question.

"Megatron has plans that endanger the human race," he said slowly, "unless the Autobots can gather more help, the outlook for your species is grim."

"How soon," she asked oddly calm and Barricade watched as her face remained placid her eyes fell to her half eaten food, deep in thought.

"Very," he said, "only a few cycles."

"How long is that?" she asked picking at her food.

"He wishes to make his move within a human year," he said finally. She set her fork down and covered her face with both hands and soon her body began to shake. Barricade mistook her reaction for fear and tried to ease her mind, "Lexa I will give my life to protect you. I will keep you safe; I will not let another Decepticon take you as his slave."

"So that is why you will come for me," she asked through her hands not letting him see her face, "to prevent me from being engulfed in the final battle that threatens to extinguish or enslave humankind?"

"Yes, to protect you."

"I wish to go back to the Autobots now," she said standing and stepping away from him and as she did so her hands moved from her face. Barricade hated the look of anger and betrayal that covered her features. She glared at him and her lips were in a tight line, as if she was forcing herself not to say anything to him. He nodded wishing the conversation could have just died, but knowing there was no other way it could have ended.

The ride to the Autobot base was long with Lexa refusing to talk to him even as he tried to start a conversation several times. When they were only a few miles away he pulled off to the side of the road and turned his holoform to her, deciding to try and find out what he said that was so wrong. Humans were so…_unpredictably_ emotional!

"Knock it off," he said angrily, "you asked me a question and I answered. I have no reason to believe I have done anything to elicit your current mood. Perhaps this is why Optimus never spoke of this to you. He knew you humans would react harshly."

"_Brave _humans fight for what we believe is right and so do the Autobots," she said turning to him and pointing her finger as she spoke, "only the lowly humans fight for the winning side and still expect the people they are fighting against to be okay with it. When the final battle starts, Barricade, don't come for me. I won't be waiting for you, because I will be out fighting for my _species_ survival."

"You will surely die," he scoffed at her. She glared at him and tried to exit the car, releasing an exasperated scream as he kept her in. He growled at her as he spoke avoiding yelling at her, "You would rather die for them, than live for me is that it?"

"To live as a slave… I'd rather not live at all," she said still not facing him and she felt Cade sag on his wheels.

"I wouldn't keep you as a slave," he said after a few moments of silence.

"But you would fight to enslave my people," she said, "and I cannot let that happen. I will not sit idly by and watch as humans are destroyed by the Decepticon's. Cade you cannot play Devil's advocate all of your life. Eventually you will have to choose a side whether it's the winning side or not. I've chosen to fight for my people; to fight for the freedom all beings yearn. Who will you fight for? Me? Or the Decepticon's?" As she finished her small, but heavy rant she looked to his holoform, tears engulfing her eyes. It wrenched Cade's spark to see her like that so he looked away and began driving again. The rest of the ride was silent again apart from the sobs Lexa couldn't help but let out. As they pulled up outside the base Lexa began to get out only pausing when Barricade spoke.

"The Autobots will never win, it is suicide to join their side," he said, "What if we just stay away from the battle, and let the future run its course?"

"You can stay away and you can force me to go with you," she said, "but I won't go with you willingly and if you force me... I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you."

"I will fight for the Decepticon's then," he said angry that she wouldn't understand him.

"If that's what you want," she said stepping from the car and closing the door. She stared at his body for a longtime before finishing, "I cannot follow you down that road, Cade and you will not follow me on mine. I guess this is where we part then." She turned away and began walking towards the guards at the gate when Barricade's holoform appeared in front of her.

"I will not allow you to walk away from me," he growled at her grabbing her arms. He pushed her against the side of his car body and leaned into her, his low voice getting lower as he spoke to her. He ignored the sounds of the man at the gate entrance calling over the radio, telling whoever on the receiving end what was happening.

"You are mine," he spoke again and held her hand up to her face, "this ring proves it. This tattoo proves it. Whether you want me to protect you or not I will, because when I am with you Alexandra I am happiest and I will not let you die because you are a stubborn little human."

"Then fight for _me_," she growled pushing his holoform away from her, "Stop being a Decepticon. Stop being someone you're not!"

"I _am_ a Decepticon," he yelled shoving her into the car harder than he meant.

"Then kill me!" she yelled, "If you're a Decepticon, then you will stop pretending you love me and _kill me_!" His holoform threw her to the ground and disappeared as he transformed his car form into his mech form and pointed one of his cannons at her. The weapon began charging and she sat on the ground, watching him with a strange amount of calm. He hesitated for a moment then disarmed his weapon and transformed back into the mustang as his holoform appeared and picked her up.

"You are the most impossible human," he said and kissed her roughly. She kissed him back and broke away from him, hugging his holoform.

"You need someone to bring you back down to Earth every now and again," she said a smile gracing her face as she let go the sigh of relief.

"You must be careful Lexa," he said softly beginning to let her go, "I could have killed you."

"You could have," she said, "but I had faith that you wouldn't. I have always had faith in you Barricade. One day you will discover its one of our greatest attributes; to have faith in seemingly impossible situations. It's something humans and the Autobots have and something that Decepticon's lack."

"Your faith is misguided," he said quietly, "I am not a being to trust."

"I think you are," she said, "_you_ just need to realize you are."

"I will fight for you," he whispered kissing her forehead.

"You better," she said with a half laugh, "or else _I'd_ have to kill _you_."

* * *

_A/N: First of all I didn't realize I still had an authors note up so thanks to The Fox Familar for pointing that out. Mistakes happen my friend, just keep that in mind. :D_

_To the important stuff! So I kinda had this Megatron trying to rid himself of the human race as we know it kinda idea going before I saw DOTM but I wasnt really sure how to do it until I saw the movie. That means things may be slightly similar to the movie, but very slight... I hated who all was killed off in the movie... they basically killed it... and now they're talking about possibly making another trilogy? That'll be interesting... better bring back hide. I loved that bot. D:_

_BTW did anyone else see Barricade in one tiny blip of a scene in the background during the movie? I was like "LOOK DAD ITS BARRICADE" and he did not share my enthusiasm on the matter, I was quite sad lol_

_Sorry this one took a while too. I sent it to emberlotus over fourth of July weekend, but somehow it never actually sent _TTATT_ what a fail. Then I went to publish it last night and ended up getting my friend from her house bc her boyfriend stat smacking her around. So yeah it took until now... sorry!_

_Yeah there was a scene... and actually I wasnt going to have the rest of that until the next chapter (And before you're like *gasp* wtf how did he buy her a house... He had to create a human bank account when he joined the police force... and since he never used human money and was stationed on earth for a while he was able to get the house easily) and actually I wasnt going to have any of that at all it was completely spontaneous! Ironically the end is my favorite part of this chapter... Other than the grenade-in-mouth thing. :D_

_I was going to reply to all of your reviews as I normally do, but with deleting the Authors Note Chapter I forgot about, it seems I cant see the reviews correctly... D':_


	15. War Room and Energon

**Chapter 15: War Room and Energon**

Alexandra walked towards Optimus, her high heels clicking against the linoleum flooring. The tight fitting black pencil skirt limited her movements, but accented her figure and the white long-sleeve button-up shirt was stark in contrast against the skirt. The white shirt caused her skin to look even darker than she was. Her brown hair, now far past her shoulders, was rolled into a low bun. Barricade was walking behind her, adorned similarly with black slacks and a white long-sleeve button-up. Optimus greeted the pair with a nod and he led them towards the War room using his human holoform.

Looking back towards Lexa, Optimus noticed the side effects of the ring she was wearing on her left ring finger, but also noticed it was not a typical human reaction to Energon. Typically, Energon would cause excessive degeneration in skin cells, causing the skin to die and the inflicted area to turn dark. On Lexa, the area visibly pulsed with a light blue light, just like the Energon, as if it pulsed through her veins. Optimus begged for her to allow Ratchet to study her blood again, but she refused.

It had been almost six months since Sam's wedding and very rarely was he involved with Autobot matters, even still small Autobots were living with he and Carly while the others maintained what peace they could on Earth. The looming war against the Decepticon's was quickly approaching and was the reason for the meeting, which included most of Earth's officials. Optimus noticed Lexa grip a leather black briefcase tightly, the muscles in her fingers tensing and releasing involuntarily. He guessed it was her notes, in case she was asked to speak.

"Most likely they will not want to talk to you," Optimus said hoping to calm her down.

"Hopefully," she said, "I never was one for speeches."

"You'll be fine," Barricade offered behind her and she nodded hesitantly. The two were practically inseparable now after their blow up at the gates the day after Sam's wedding. No one ever spoke of what happened that day, but it was assumed they came to some sort of mutual understanding. Barricade was no longer with the Decepticon's; he claimed the only side he was on was Lexa's and it was easy to believe, especially in times like these when he watched over her protectively.

As Optimus and Lexa entered the War Room a little bit early, Barricade stood by the door similar to a bouncer at a nightclub. The doors closed and Lexa felt as though all eyes were upon her. She took a breath looking at all the men in the room and Optimus put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it and leading her to their seats. Sitting, she opened her briefcase and pulled out her folder, in case she was called upon. Everything was already in order inside the plain tan paper, she knew because that morning she checked four times.

It took another five minutes for everyone to show up, but as the last person entered the room the Secretary of Defense stood and leaned on the table in front of him. He looked around the room slowly, taking in each person, making sure to look into their eyes, before he moved to the next person. He stood completely and walked slowly around the large circular table.

"We were informed the planet would be under attack within one Earth year," he began, "that was six months ago. The day after we found about the impending attack, the President and I held a meeting similar to this with fifteen fewer people, fifteen less countries. It's been six months and we are more ready than ever for war with an alien species, but we are in no means prepared. The populous knows something is happening, but they don't know what. We could tell them, but it would cause panic on top of ruining the element of surprise. As far as we know the Decepticon's do not know that we know about their attack.

"Not only do we know about the attack, but we know they are planning on striking the world's most populated cities; New York, Shanghai, Mumbai, Karachi, Lima, Mexico City and London, just to name a few. It will be a swift and deadly attack; they will jam our signals first, so we cannot ask for help. They will send in hundreds at once in attempt to overwhelm us. Now the details get fuzzy from there; we have tried piecing together the information, but to no avail and our contact is no longer available," the SecDef said as he stopped four chairs away from Lexa, behind the President of Australia.

"How can we trust this information?" asked the President of China in broken English.

"We have friends within the race," the Secretary of Defense said and looked to Lexa and Optimus.

"Then how can we trust them?" asked the President of Australia.

"Madam President, we have two factions to our race," said Optimus and the Secretary of Defense began walking slowly, "some of us are Autobots. I am an Autobot, we believe all sentient beings are sacred and we protect life. We have fought alongside humans for many years now and we will continue to fight next to you. Our opposing faction is the Decepticon's. Their hatred and greed are what killed our own planet eons ago. We Autobots hope to prevent our fate being thrust upon your people."

"Fought alongside humans, you say?" said the English representative, "I should like to hear this from a soldier, and I find myself agreeing with Madam President of Australia. How can we trust your kind?"

"I believe this is why I was asked to come," Lexa said standing next to Optimus attracting even more attention to herself and she gulped staring at the different faces. She looked to the Secretary of Defense and to Optimus after receiving a not from both of them she began speaking again, "I have fought with the Autobots, and they were the ones to actually train me. I would stand next to them on any battlefield."

"And why should we trust them, versus their counterparts. Why should we trust this information which they surely collected?" Madam Australia asked.

"The Decepticons are full of greed. They don't care who or what they destroy in order to achieve their goals. The Autobots aren't like that. I can stand here and try and convince you to trust them until I'm blue in the face, but really you just have to trust in what they say. I was brought up that actions speak louder than words and all of their actions have been fair towards humankind and as far as trusting the information because it came from them, you don't have to worry. That information was verified by a human, by me. It was my contact with the Decepticons that helped us gain this information," Lexa said and sat down. It was by no means a good speech. No part of it was encouraging or something that would go down in history as an epic speech, it was just the truth, only stretched a tiny bit at the end, but no one needed to know that.

The meeting wasn't long after that. A few war strategies were developed and while they were coming into life, Lexa sat back in her chair and listened, trying to remain unnoticed. She was looking through her notes when a chair pulled up beside her and a man sat down next to her. She looked over to him and smiled kindly then went back to reading her notes until he closed them.

"May I help you with something?" she asked trying to be nice.

"You know, I was wondering how you came in contact with one of the Decepticons," he said quietly, "How you came in contact and survived."

"One of them was living under the ruse of an officer and he stopped some men from mugging me," she said, trying to figure this man out. She didn't recognize this man and his behavior was peculiar…

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember what your name was," she stated.

"Shihab," he said with a smirk, "from Saudi Arabia."

"Oh, what does your name mean?" she asked trying to keep the conversation light and his eyes flickered.

"Shooting Star," he said and she furrowed her eyes in confusion. Did his eyes just flash red?

"Shooting… Star?" she said watching him and he stroked her hand with the ring.

"Energon is such a rare mineral," he said so quiet Lexa barely heard him.

"Starscream?" she whispered in disbelief and he smirked squeezing her hand tightly. "Ouch, why are you even over here. Why are you letting me know who you are?"

"You will soon find out," he said petting her hand, "these idiots didn't even recognize that I was a Decepticon in disguise and yet you would trust them in battle?"

"No one is perfect," Lexa said taking her hand from him, not entirely sure why she was remaining quiet. He growled as she took her hand from him and it was at that time Optimus looked over at them. He looked hesitantly at Starscream then looked at Lexa, seeing she was clearly annoyed. As the meeting ended Starscream left the room slowly, watching Lexa the whole time. Lexa walked over to the secretary of defense and tapped on his soldier.

"Sir," she stated, "that man, the Shihab from Saudi Arabia was a disguised Decepticon." The man looked to Optimus.

"After him!" he commanded and Optimus disappeared.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier," said the Secretary of Defense.

"I'm not sure, sir," she stated, "I'm really not sure."

Lexa watched from the hotel penthouse balcony as the sun set and turned Washington DC into night. The door slid open and soon Lexa looked to her left and saw Barricade standing next to her and Bee, just to his left. She looked out over the city and into the sky, listening to her surroundings.

"We haven't caught him yet," Barricade said, "but we will."

"I don't understand why he wanted me to know who he was," she said watching the sky, "why would he want me to know… Why would the Decepticon's want us to know that we aren't really surprising them? It doesn't make sense."

"Don't let it bother you," said Bee with a smile, "That's why you have us, so we can figure it out."

"Optimus said you pulled your hand away and he growled?" asked Cade.

"Yeah," she said looking at her ring finger, "I think my ring is one of the reasons he came over to me. He kept touching my hand and when I moved it away he didn't like it."

"Perhaps you should take it off," Bee said casually and Barricade frowned.

"While I'm not fond of it, perhaps he is right."

"I already tried," she said tugging on the ring, "but it won't come off, no matter what I do." Both Bee and Barricade whipped their heads to watch her struggle with it only to yank so hard she started bleeding.

"Ouch," she hissed not touching it again. Immediately Bee and Barricade were hovering over her and both of them were looking at her hand.

"Come on," Barricade said grabbing her other wrist and dragging her back into the room, "get your things, we leave immediately and we're going to find Ratchet so he can figure out what has happened."

"It's no big deal," Lexa said resisting him, until Bee was pushing behind her.

"You must find out what has happened," Bee said grasping her shoulders, "and make sure you are not being hurt by it."

"Bee, I'm fine," she said but both the 'bots glared at her and she sighed, lifting her hands in defeat, "okay, okay, I'll have Ratchet look at it."

Lexa sat on the table in front of Ratchets Holoform as he drew her blood. Immediately he put it into a few vials and began taking her vitals. Finally he picked up her hand and began looking at it, the blood dried but as he moved the flexible skin the wound reopened and began bleeding.

"Does it hurt?" he asked glancing up at her placid face.

"Not as much as it did," she said, "why."

"From what I can tell," he said talking quietly. They were in a separate room and to her request it was just the two of them, "it's grown past your skin and into your bone. To remove, you'll have to cut your finger off."

"Why would it react that way," she asked watching him take an Autobot tool and prod at it. A painful shock traveled through her entire body and she let out a scream. Immediately he pulled the tool away and she took a deep breath trying to shake off the pain.

"Sorry," she said.

"It is I who should apologize," he responded, "I shall refrain from doing that again. I don't know why it would react like this." Just as he was about to start looking at her hand again Barricade opened the door and scowled at the doctor, then looked over Lexa.

"Are you alright?" he asked and she nodded with a smile, trying to hide the remnants of pain.

"Ratchet just surprised me, that's all," she said.

"How much longer will it take?" Barricade asked growling at Ratchet.

"As soon as I evaluate the results of her blood tests," Ratchet said then looked at the machine that was attached to the vials, "Around five minutes." Barricade nodded and closed the door and as soon as he did the machine beeped.

"As I thought," he said looking at her finger.

"What?"

"You have an elevated amount of nanobots in your body," he said, "Which is probably part of why this reacted the way it did."

"Do you think the Energon in the ring caused the metal to react strangely, I mean it _is_ your life source, so maybe it's what gives metal objects life," she said, "and it gave my ring life and now the nanites are reacting to the Energon and…"

"Lexa," Ratchet started with a chuckle, "just relax. Right now, it doesn't look like it's affecting you negatively, so we'll watch it and make sure nothing happens."

"Okay," Lexa said with a nod and stood up. She was walking out of the room when she thought she heard Ratchet say something. "What did you say?" she asked turning back to look at him and he stared at her.

"I didn't say anything," he said.

"Oh," she said, "thought you did…" She walked out of the room and stood next to Barricade looking to him with a smile. She held up her hand and spoke, "You always find a way to keep yourself permanently attached to me don't you?"

"I don't try to," he said pulling her into a hug, "so what did he say?"

"Well, we're going to watch it and make sure it doesn't bother me further, but if it does…. Well its attached to my bone now so…"

"I don't try to hurt you," he said holding her until she pushed away.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, "You don't hurt me."

"I do things," he said and held up your hand, "give you things that hurt you. I don't try to, but I always manage to hurt you."

"Yeah," she said with a giggle, "Kinda sucks being with you, but I'll be here next to you for a long time to come."

"So he left us again for that insolent human?" asked Megatron watching some data Starscream collected. Then an image where her ring showed clearly appeared, "What's this? Energon? Things just keep getting better and better. Starscream!"

"Yes, my lord," Starscream said upon entering the cavernous space.

"I want you to keep an eye on that human girl and Barricade. He has given her some of our precious Energon," he said, "I want to know what happens."

"What about our strike against human kind?" Starscream asked.

"All in good time," Megatron said cracking a evil smile on his mechanical face, "All in good time."

_**A/N: Hey guys, so sorry its been so long. I've missed you all, life has been well, but extremely busy. Hopefully the next chapter will be up much quicker.**_

__**_No flaming, but nice comments and fair critiques are always welcomed. :) See you soon!_**


	16. Not so Happily Ever After

**Chapter 16:**_** Not so Happily Ever After**_

"What a bland and miserable day," Lexa said looking out of Barricade's car window, "I thought it was always sunny in Arizona?"

"Quite often it is," Barricade responded pretending to drive. He felt her shift in the seat and again he couldn't help the feeling the human femme gave him as she fidgeted in his seat. As he looked over her body, he noticed the tired circles under her eyes and her slouched figure. The past few months were weighing on her and Barricade knew his femme needed rest, but she would not rest when the Decepticon's had something up their sleeves.

"Sam invited me to stay with him and Carly for a week," she said suddenly and she looked to Barricade, "I've been considering it."

"Just at his house?"

"No, they're going to Aspen for a ski trip, I thought it might be nice to take some time to relax," she said and he stared at her. Something seemed off, he offered for her to go on several vacations and she refused, but Sam offered and she was actually thinking about it.

"I'm not doing it because Sam asked," she said looking out of the window.

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking it," she stated. He looked over her again and noticed she was tapping and fidgeting with the ring.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I can hear you."

"Oh?" he asked with a smile, "then tell me what I'm thinking."

"That I'm just being funny. You're thinking I can't be serious. What would cause me to be able to hear you?" she said then looked to him, "And the truth is I don't know. It started a couple months ago like whispers across the room, but now I can hear any transformer I'm near perfectly."

"So you want to hide," he asked suddenly sour.

"No," she said, "well, not really hide. I just want to get away from these voices in my head for a little bit. I just want a little time to think without hearing everyone else."

"I guess could see why you'd want to escape for a while," he said reminding himself of her tired and worn appearance, "when will you be leaving?"

"I don't know, I haven't told Sam yet," she said, "I kinda wanted to talk to you first."

"One condition," he stated as he pulled into the Autobot encampment.

"Yeah?"

"I want to know everything that's going on and I want you to call me if anything happens," he said.

"Yes dad," she said with a smile and exited the car.

_"Lord Megatron," Starscream said over his com channel straight to his leader, "it would appear the human girl is growing."_

_"Continue as you are Starscream," Megatron replied._

"Sam, Carly, thanks for letting me join you on your trip," Lexa said as she met up with her friends at the airport.

"No problem!" Carly said with a bright smile, "we were so happy to hear you were joining us!"

"Why are you so chipper?" Lexa asked cautiously and looked to Sam. He smiled apologetically and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Oh nothing!" Carly said with a singsong voice, "just can't wait til we get there! I heard it has snowed a ton. Can't wait to ski!"

"What have you gotten me into?" Lexa whispered to Sam with a smirk.

"Honestly I'm not entirely sure myself," he whispered back and they chuckled as Carly continued ahead of them talking about the trip.

Once they arrived at the lodge they were staying in and every one unpacked for the week Carly came bouncing into Lexa's room begging her to go to the spa with her. Deciding to just go with the flow, Lexa agreed as long as they went skiing later that night.

It wasn't until they went to a fancy restaurant for dinner where everyone had to _really_ dress up did Lexa think about Carly's strange behavior at the airport. The place was fancy and honestly with Sam and Carly, Lexa felt like an annoying third wheel. When they sat at the table Lexa eyed the waiter as he left the fourth set of utensils at the table and watched Carly nervously as she giggled like a little school girl. About five minutes later a man walked up to the table and sat next to Lexa with a kind smile on his face.

"You must be Alexandra," he said with a smile and English accent, "really you're much more beautiful than Carly told me."

"Oh well thank you," she said glaring at her friend, "I'm sorry she hasn't told me about you."

"Oh right," he said with a smile, "my name is Russell. I was a friend of her brothers."

"Nice to meet you," Lexa said with the nicest smile she could manage. Then with a glare she looked to Carly and motioned to the bathroom.

"Excuse us Russell, we'll be right back," Carly said and we both stood and walked to the bathroom.

"This, my friend, is sabotage," Lexa said leaning against the bathroom sink.

"Oh come on, you need to have a human boyfriend. Being with that bucket of bolts is unhealthy," she said priming her hair.

"It's my choice to be with him Carly, not yours," Lexa responded. Carly looked at her then checked to make sure no one was in the bathroom. With a swift flick she locked the door and looked directly at Lexa.

"This relationship you are in with Barricade is unhealthy. I might've tolerated you being interested in Bumblebee, but no you chose to be interested in a Decepticon. He may not kill you, but you being with him will cause you pain. Something will happen to you if you don't break off the relationship. Please just try being with Russell for this week. I've told him about Barricade; well I've told him 'Cade is your boyfriend and he's pretty demanding and controlling, but the point is he knows you're already in a relationship and he won't force anything from you. I've known Russell for a long time, he's a good guy, just give him a chance," Carly pleaded.

"Fine," Lexa said after a moment, "I just hope for your sake and his that Barricade doesn't find out."

The week went by slowly, but Lexa was glad the past few years seemed to rush by so the slow week was a relief. Carly was right about Russell, he was a good guy and never pushed Lexa too far for anything. There had even been a couple times where they would be laughing about something and Lexa and Russell would have and 'almost kiss' moment, but Lexa always thought of Barricade and would simply smile and move away from him.

On the last day of the trip, Lexa and Sam went up to a more advanced ski slope wanting to spend some time together. It was brisk at the top of the mountain and sparse of people, this only made the run that much more fun. It was just before their third run down the mountain that Lexa heard what sounded like someone whispering.

"Sam," she called to him a few feet away and he turned to her.

"What's up?"

"Please tell me you heard that?" she begged.

"Heard what?" he asked and they were silent for a moment, listening to the wind howl past their ears.

"_Gotchya."_

"That!"

"I didn't hear anything," Sam said. Suddenly the sound of turbines could be heard and Lexa sent Sam down the mountain with a shove. With a push of her sticks she took off down the mountain and tried to escape from Starscream. She was glad she wasn't terrible at skiing, but frustrated that she wasn't better and faster. Starscream transformed in front of her and tried to capture her. She moved as quickly as she could managing to slip between his digits, but the damage was done. She could no longer control where she was going and fell immediately losing her skis. With no control over her direction as she tumbled down the slope, she saw the tree coming and prayed she wouldn't end up like so many cases where people who crashed into trees died.

She felt as she hit the tree with her chest and all the wind in her chest was knocked from her. She gulped painfully at the air and after a moment realized she was still tumbling down the mountain. She cried out in pain as she rolled over a particularly hard bump. The last thing she saw before blackness took over, were two glowing red orbs watching her intently.

The first thing Lexa noticed upon waking up was how hard it was to breath, her chest felt constricted and heavy as if there were giant rocks covering her. The second thing she noticed was the bright room and how everything seemed flooded in white. She knew this kind of place, but wasn't sure why she was here.

"Sam, she's waking up!" she heard Carly squeal and Lexa couldn't contain the flinch, "I'm going to go get a doctor."

"Sam," Lexa muttered not really wanting to talk anymore, "how did I get here?"

"Bee saved you," he said quietly, "Starscream was about to take off with you and Bee attacked him."

"Bee?"

"Yeah, I guess it's a good thing he doesn't like staying away from us," he said, "Guess that's what makes him such a good guardian." Lexa smiled with nothing left to say and watched as the Doctors frantically ran into the room and Bee's holoform close behind. After a few tests they left telling Lexa she needed to rest for a while. Not long after Carly and Sam left to go eat dinner while Bee stayed with Lexa.

"Sam said you're my Guardian Angel," she said, "I'm not surprised."

"Well, I couldn't just let Starscream take off with you now could I?" he asked and Lexa chuckled.

"You wouldn't do that," she said, "you're too kind."

"That's why Barricade won you, isn't it?" Bee asked, "Because I'm too kind."

"Bee," Lexa started and began coughing. Bee watched her sadly and held her hand in his.

"I have something to tell you," he said when she quit coughing and she looked to him, "after Starscream attacked you he…"

"What happened?" she asked unable to cipher the thoughts coming from him.

"They have Barricade. They already launched a strike against New York and they are planning on attacking Saint Louis," he said, "Ratchet said you would heal quickly because of the nanites in your body. As soon as you heal we need you to help us. Optimus has promised you will be in the unit with me so I can make sure you're safe. For some reason they wanted you out before they started a war."

"They wanted to use me," she said, "but when you came to rescue me Starscream had to retreat. They took Barricade to use as bait."

"Why?" he asked and Lexa looked down. Bee continued, "Lexa what do you know that we don't?"

"I can hear your thoughts," she said, "when I'm near you I can hear the transmissions and signals you send and receive."

"I guess that means we'll have to be even more careful with you," Bee said roughing up her hair.

"Please don't tell anyone Bee," she said knowing he wanted to, "they won't let me fight if they find out." She swept her feet over the side of the bed and stood, painfully.

"Aw come on Lexa," he said trying to have her sit again, "You shouldn't be standing up."

"I'm fine," she said under strain, "Let's get out of here."

"Fine, but Ratchet isn't going to be happy I let you move," Bee said picking her up. She bit back the squeak of pain as he carried her to his body.

"What about Sam and Carly," she asked.

"They'll be safe," Bee said, "Ironhide is watching over them now."

It was three weeks before Ratchet allowed Lexa to leave the bed she was assigned, however during that time she snuck out and spent time with Bee roaming the base. Things seemed to return to normal with her and Bee. On the base it was if time stood still and nothing else mattered in the world. It wasn't until soldiers turned on the TV that anyone would remember things were going on outside the compound.

"I'm ready," Lexa said one day wearing her uniform, "when are we going to fight them?"

"We're stretched pretty thin," said Lennox walking up to her and patting her back, "it's going to be a while."

"But what about the cities they've taken already? How do we explain it to those people waiting for help?" she asked, "How do we explain we felt we couldn't help them because there are not enough of us."

"The cities that have been taken, have fallen," said Ratchet from behind Lexa and she turned to him as he continued, "and the people are likely dead."

"But some will have survived. People always survive," she said urging him to understand.

"We can't rush into these things," Lennox said crossing his arms, "more people will die if we rush."

"Well I can't stand idly by and let them suffer more," she said walking out of the hangar on the base. Bee drove up next to her and opened the door.

"Trust me?" he begged and she got in. He led her back to the base and she glared at the dashboard.

"Traitor," she commented and he chuckled.

"I'm not letting you go in alone," he said, "we have to gather our team."

It was a few days before they left and traveled to Saint Louis. The destruction grew the closer they got to the city. The Arch was just two legs rising into the air. The buildings were burning and fell across the landscape. As they began to enter the city, taking I70 into the downtown area, bodies and abandoned cars littered the road.

"This is horrible," Lexa said watching out the window. She took a deep breath and sat back in the car seat. She closed her eyes trying to listen for Decepticon transmissions in the area. As they passed tenth street voices echoed into her mind. Their base was not too far ahead, at the football stadium. Lexa told Bee and he pulled to a stop just as Ironhide and Ratchet did the same behind him, followed closely by Optimus Prime.

"We'll go on foot from here," Lennox said taking his team. Only a few stayed behind, one human per Autobot. Lexa got back into Bee and put the window down, her gun at the ready.

"Are you ready?" Bee asked and Lexa looked to the driver's seat where his holoform was watching her. She nodded and he motioned for her to come closer with his finger.

"What is it, Bee?" she asked and he smiled. With a hand on her cheek he kissed her softly on the lips.

"I missed you," he said, "be careful today, you have to come back to me."

"Bar-" she started but he placed his lips on hers again to silence her.

"I know, but promise me you'll come back, no matter what happens? Even just as friends."

"I will," she said with a smile, "Now I don't know about you, but I'm ready to kick some ass."

"Ready," he said and his holoform disappeared as he drove into town.

It was scarily easy to get into town and Lexa realized it was because the rest of the Autobots and Lennox's team were keeping the majority occupied. It wasn't until they entered the Dome that things became more difficult. Upon the first attack Bee had to force Lexa out of his body. A Decepticon caught her and laughed at her petite form. Taking the opportunity Lexa crawled from his loose grip and thrust a grenade into his eye. The grenade blew up the majority of his forehead rendering the Decepticon useless. A few moments later Bumblebee shot the Decepticon, killing it immediately. Things were going good, and suddenly Lexa heard Barricade's voice in her mind calling out to her.

"Bee," she said, "Barricade's this way, come on!"

"We'll get him later, Lexa," Bee said, "we have to stay to the mission."

"We will, but we have to save him, they're torturing him," she pleaded.

"Fine," he said and transformed into his car form, "get on the hood and hold on tight." She did as he commanded and led him towards Barricades voice.

"Lexa no!" Cade yelled suddenly as an explosion went off in front of Bee. Bee slammed to a stop and Lexa flew from his hood. She rolled on the ground, finally stopping on her back. She shrieked as Starscream tried to step on her.

"Come here little rodent," he bellowed as she got up and started running from him. She ran into a side hallway and tried to escape from him. Deciding he wasn't following her she paused to catch her breath. Suddenly he was in his jet form flying towards her. She screamed and began running again.

"Oh how I love to hear you shriek," he said with dark laughter. The ground around her exploded as Starscream fired at her. She could hear Bumblebee racing toward her and she glanced back. He fired just before Starscream and hit him. Lexa fell to the ground as Starscream fell to the ground just in front of her. Bee sped up and spun in front of her. She got up about to run and get in Bee when she noticed the predicament Starscream was in. His entire breastplate was removed showing his Spark and all the wires around it. Lexa looked to Bee then to Starscream. Pulling the pin out another grenade she had in her pack she ran at Bee, slid over his hood and continued to Starscream. Once close enough she thrust the grenade into his spark.

Starscream cried out in pain and swiped at Lexa. She tried to move away from his talons, but wasn't quick enough. He hit her hard and sent her across the hallway and into a wall. Lexa cried out as she hit the wall and fell limply to the ground. Moments later Starscream exploded the gunpowder and Energon reacting harshly. Bumblebee protected Lexa's body as the explosion encompassed the area. Thinking nothing of it, Bee collected her with his holoform and placed him in the passenger's seat. He freed Barricade and drove off to meet up with the rest of the Autobots.

The Autobots won over Saint Louis, but they were not without their losses. Ironhide lost his arm. Sgt Lennox lost two men in his unit. Francis, who was traveling with Ratchet, was killed. Rider and Wingo were both severely mutilated. Sideswipe was torn to pieces. Optimus and Ratchet came out with more mental wounds than any physical damage. Bumblebee and Barricade both came out unscathed, but both mourned constantly. In Lexa's actions against Starscream she was thrown, not to death but she would not wake up. Her body was fully healed, no scars or wounds to show for her lack of consciousness. Bee blamed Barricade and Barricade blamed Bee. Even still they both agreed in not fighting around Lexa, whether she could hear them or not. It was on one particularly dismal December day that Bee was sitting next to Lexa in his holoform, reading the latest news to her. He watched her closely then leaned over her grasping her hand.

"You promised you would come back to me," he said trying to stir her, "you promised." He kissed her forehead and backed away as her hand moved in his. He looked down to her hand then up to her face, her brows were furrowed although her eyes remained closed. Bee shoved the chair out his way and went to the hallway to call for a nurse. A few moments later a nurse entered and Lexa's face was once again placid.

"I swear she held my hand and made a face," he said as the nurse looked at him skeptically. She pated his shoulders as she looked at him.

"Keep your hopes high honey, but don't let them take over and create illusions."

"I know what I saw," he said replaying the moments in his mind.

"Then that means she's fighting," the nurse said.

"If she's fighting, I know she'll be okay," Bee said, "she's too stubborn not to be okay." The nurse left with a nod and Bee leaned over her again.

"I guess you are fighting to come back to me," he said, "I knew you'd keep your promise."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **I may make a sequel, but at this point don't hold your breath. I came to realize as I read over the chapters to write this one that Lexa was such a pain in the butt. I wrote this chapter while watching Les Miserables 25th anniversary after being totally bummed about the Patriot's losing the Superbowl to the Giants._

_Thank you for everyone who followed this story, favorite'd it and commented on it. I love you all._

_Don't hesitate to tell me what you think, just please constructive criticism only :)_

_Hugs and Kisses_


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